Dipper looked towards the door Ford had exited out of, heartbroken.
He wanted to continue sobbing, to break down completely, and more than anything, Dipper wanted his mom. Whenever he felt too weak to continue and just needed to cry, his mom would take him into her lap and hold him until he felt strong enough to face the world. But she wasn't here now, his dad wasn't coming back, and the worst part was he felt he had to explain this horrid reality to his sister.
"Mabel, I know it's hard but…Ford's right."
"I—I can't believe you're taking his side," Mabel whispered, her voice full of heartbreak and betrayal.
"Mabel, there are no 'sides' to take. It's…just reality."
"I don't care what you and Grunkle Ford say! I'm not gonna give up on Dad!"
Dipper sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do to help her right now. He turned his attention to Stan.
"I'm going to go check on Ford. Watch out for her please," Dipper whispered.
"I can't believe you would leave Dad when he needs you," Mabel said coldly.
As few tears slipped from Dipper's eyes. He already felt like the worst son in the world to have not gone to his father sooner, but there was nothing he could do for his father. He was gone. That was a weight Dipper would have to carry the rest of his life.
—
Dipper wandered aimlessly through the halls of the hospital looking for Ford. Truth be told, he wasn't looking as hard as he could have. He felt like Mabel could be right: he should be with his father. The reality was, he was afraid. He didn't want to face this any more than Mabel did. How could a day that had started with so much hope and promise go so wrong? It was the kind of horrible where Dipper genuinely wondered if things would ever be all right again.
He found Ford sulking at a table near a vending machine, isolated from everyone else.
When Ford noticed the boy heading towards him, he felt even more ashamed. Dipper shouldn't be focusing any energy on him right now.
Dipper sat down beside Ford without a word. There were no words right now.
They sat in unmoving silence for a long time before Ford spoke. "Does she really believe that I think she's stupid?"
"Mabel's sensitive about that stuff. She always has been. We've always been compared to each other, not so much by our parents…" Dipper let a few tears slip realizing he never appreciated enough how his parents never tried to compare like when the rest of the world always did. "But in school, our teachers and the other students always compared us. She's…not as good at school as I am. But she's smart about a lot of other stuff that I'm not!"
Ford thought about how this mirrored his and Stanley's relationship. It made Ford guilty to realize that Dipper appreciated his twin's worth more than he did.
"I'm supposed to be the smart guy, but I've been wrong about so many things that Mabel was right about, like…the portal."
"The portal?" Ford asked, confused.
"Mabel…Mabel is the whole reason that you are here. That night in the basement, we found the portal. I thought it was something bad, and I didn't trust Stan, so I told her to shut it down." Saying it out loud physically stung Dipper, considering all that portal had given him. "But she didn't listen to me. She trusted Stan. And—"
"And it brought me back — allowed me to reconcile with Stan…" Ford finished as he realized that, like his brother, she had been instrumental in bringing him back. And, also like his brother, showed her no appreciation for it.
In that moment, Ford was certain she was right: he really didn't have a heart.