"He's semi-conscious, and he keeps calling for someone named Mabel,"

"I'm Mabel!" Mabel shouted, leaping from her chair.

The doctor looked at the Pines, whose eyes were wide.

"Bring the girl," he said, running out of the room.


Mabel stood by her brother, along with Doctor Hanson, the burly man from the waiting room, and the woman who had called them in.

"Dipper," she whispered. He had stopped thrashing and now he looked more exhausted then terrified. She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a blue and white cap with a pine tree symbol on the front. She reached up and placed it on his head, but while she brought her hands back, she snuck a small red journal out from under the covers and placed it in her pocket, all the while whispering, "I'm here."

Dipper's eyes closed, and the woman jotted something down in her notebook. Mabel took his hand and whispered his name.

"Mabel?" Dipper muttered. Doctor Hanson gasped and nudged the woman.

Dipper's eyes blinked open, but they were focused, and the vacant stare was gone. He turned his head to look at Mabel and the rest of the crowd.

"What's going on?"


"Mabel, what happened?" The doctors had let Mabel have a moment with her brother, provided he remained strapped down and they could watch through the security cameras and wait directly outside the door.

Mabel patted her pocket where the journal was, "The book."

Dipper looked at the ceiling and exhaled loudly. "It spoke to me again, it kept saying I belong to it and that I would become it, and I couldn't hear or see anything else, at least, not until now. It was like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from."

"You wouldn't stop screaming and kicking," Mabel explained, rubbing his arm, "But then they said you suddenly stopped and were calling for me. I took the book and you woke up."

"I was calling for you," Dipper confirmed, "That was how I woke up…last time."

"Wait, really?" Mabel asked. Dipper nodded slowly. "You were calling my name and you woke up?"

"The book said I had found something to live for," Dipper said, looking at her. Mabel smiled sadly.

"Am I wearing my hat?" Dipper tried to reach up and touch it, but his arms were still strapped down.

"Sorta," Mabel said, reaching up and removing it. "This was in our room, but it doesn't have the tag with Wendy's number on it."

Dipper blushed slightly, "You knew about that?"

"Of course, silly," Mabel said with a smile, "You're my twin brother! Anyway, it's the same kind of hat as yours, but it's not your hat."

"Okay…what are you saying?" Dipper asked.

"How long do you think you've had the wrong hat?" Mabel asked.

"I dunno, I did notice it looked kinda, you now, not worn out two days ago," Dipper said, moving to make motions, but couldn't, "Stupid restraints."

"So I think that your hat was switched out the day you started acting strange," Mabel said thoughtfully, examining the hat.

"That doesn't make any sense," Dipper said.

"I know," Mabel sighed, "But, then again, nothing has made any sense lately."

Dipper gave a little shrug.

"How are you feeling?" Mabel asked, changing the subject.

"I've felt better," Dipper confessed with a sigh. "I'm pretty itchy, and my head hurts."

"How bad?"

"It's been getting worse since I woke up."

Mabel felt in her pocket and found the book wasn't there. She reached under the sheets again and put it back in her pocket.

"Better?"

"A little."

There was a moment of silence, then the door swung open.

"If you don't mind, we'd like to make sure you're brother's okay," Doctor Hanson said, stepping into the room. Mabel looked longingly at her brother.

"I'll be okay," he whispered.

"Only if you promise to unstrap him first," Mabel said with a smile.

"Okay sweetheart," the woman said, "Now run along and find your uncle, it's way past visitor's hours."


It was dark by time Stan and Mabel got back. Mabel climbed up into the lonely attic and put on her pajamas. She slipped into bed and tried to get to sleep. Unfortunately, it was harder than it sounded. Mabel kept tossing and turning, glancing over at Dipper's empty bed. She couldn't close her eyes knowing that the book wasn't in her pocket anymore, and that Dipper was stuck in a hospital with a bunch of doctors that thought he was insane. Eventually, however, the exhaustion of her long day came over her and she closed her eyes.

Mabel sat up in bed. The sun hadn't even begun to peek over the horizon, but Mabel threw off her blankets and put on her slippers.

"Grunkle Stan!" She called, stepping down the stairs, "Grunkle Stan!"

"Snuzzf!" Stan awoke with a snort. He had fallen asleep in his easy chair again.

"Grunkle Stan, something's wrong!" Mabel said, shaking his arm.

Stan yawned, "And what makes you think that?"

"I just know," Mabel said, "But something really bad is happening, I can feel it!"

"You and your brother," Stan muttered. Just then, the phone rang.

"Why don't you get that?" Stan said with a stretch. Mabel ran over to the phone in the other room and picked it up.

"Hello? Pines residence," she said.

"Hello, this is Doctor Hanson, is this Mabel?"

"Yeah…wait, what's wrong?"

"Could you please put your uncle on, dear?"

"What's wrong with Dipper?" Mabel shouted.

"Yeesh, hand me the phone," Stan said, staggering into the room. Mabel gave him the device.

"What's wrong with my nephew?" he shouted into the phone as soon as he put it to his ear, "He did what? When? What kind of a harebrained hospital are you? Yeah, whatever!" Stan slammed the phone onto the receiver.

"Grunkle Stan, what happened?" Mabel asked, afraid to know the answer.

Stan sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Mabel, you're brother's gone missing."


NO MORE DOCTORS! YAY! Oh right...poor Dipper. Sorry, I'm glad to be out of that hospital now. Never liked it in the first place.

The breaks are annoying. FF deletes them every time.