Chapter Sixteen: Caring for Stan and Incident at the Hot Spring

Dipper grunted as he, Wendy, Pacifica and Mabel dug out the entrance to the cave. It was long, hard work and Pacifica was the one who seemed to be having the most trouble. She kept herself in good shape, but she wasn't used to any truly hard work. Finally, they made it into the cave, climbing over the remaining dirt, rocks and debris and heading to the hot spring a ways in. Dipper sighed as he dipped a large bottle into the hot spring, sealing it to keep the heat in. Ford said that the bottle was designed to keep things hot better than a thermos.

They gathered four bottles full of the water and then went back to the Shack, handing Ford the results.
"He should drink it pretty quickly. It won't stay hot forever." Dipper said.

"Actually, if my calculations on the bottle are correct, I've used a combination of science and magic to allow it to remain hot for up to three weeks. If Stanley drinks a little bit three times a week, it should help him heal." Ford said. Stan wasn't doing so well. He was starting to lose track of things. Sometimes he didn't recognize someone or he burst out in anger more than usual.

Stan was grumpy, but he was easily losing his temper these days and Ford's scans showed that it was the result of the tumor in his brain. Ford's nanomachines and bionics were preventing it from getting bigger. But it had not yet shrunk. Ford was seeing some improvement in Stan's coordination and balance. He was still not well-balanced or coordinated. But he was doing better.

Ford went down to the lab and sat with Stan.
"Try drinking this. This is immortality spring water. Don't worry about how hot it is. You'll heal from it quickly. Between your nanomachines and the water itself, you should be healing faster." Ford said. Stan threw the vial at the wall, screaming as it shattered.
"FUCK YOU! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Stan roared. Stan had a bad temper these days. More than his confusion, disorientation and lack of balance and coordination, he flew into rages easily.

Ford was sure that it was a symptom of his brain tumor. But he was concerned that one day, Stan would destroy his lab, and he couldn't allow that. If that happened, he was worried that his research and his ability to treat Stan would be compromised. He didn't want to bind Stan. He didn't want to have to tie him down. But he worried that Stan couldn't make it up the stairs.

"Hey! Wendy!" Ford shouted, hurrying upstairs.

"Yeah, Ford?" Wendy asked. She'd been skiving off of work again, reading a magazine instead of sweeping up or making sure the shelves were organized. Ford chuckled. He didn't really care and he knew that although Stan complained about Wendy's poor work ethic, he treated her like a slightly lazy daughter. He wasn't going to fire her. He cared too much about her.

"I wonder if you and Dipper can help me with something." Ford said.
"We can try." Wendy said.
"I need you two's help getting Stanley upstairs into bed. His temper makes him too dangerous to keep in my laboratory. His sudden bouts of rage make him potentially destructive. I need you two to help me get him into his bed." Ford said, concerned both for his work and for Stan, who he feared would hurt himself in the lab.

"Sure, dude. I'll go get Dipper. I think between the three of us, we can get him upstairs." Wendy said, hurrying down to Dipper's room. She knocked on the door.
"Come on in." Dipper said.

"Hey, dude. We need to help Ford get Stan up the stairs." Wendy said. Wendy was always so casual. But Dipper could tell she was worried about Stan.

Dipper got up and went over to the laboratory, helping Stan stand up.

"Come on, Grunkle Stan. We're gonna get you up to your bed. You'll be more comfortable up there." Dipper said. Stan let himself be helped up. Suddenly though, he punched Dipper hard in the face. Dipper yelped, his knees giving out under him at the blow to his face. Stan had broken his nose.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Stan roared. Wendy showed herself to be quite fast, grappling Stan, getting his hands behind his back.

She guided him to the stairs.
"S'okay, Dipper. You alright?" Wendy asked. Dipper nodded, standing up, wincing as he felt his nose. It was already tingling as it healed. His healing was incredibly fast now. But the blood running down his lip showed that he could still be injured. Dipper opened the door and let Wendy get out the door with Stan, keeping an eye on him while they guided him up to his room.

"Okay, Stan… Let's get you into your bed." Wendy said. Ford smiled. He was glad that Stan had people like Wendy and Soos in his life. They were much younger than him, but he at least had people that he saw as family, even while he had been gone.

"You healed, Dipper?" Wendy asked. Dipper touched his nose, tweaking it.

"Yeah. I'm good. Let's see if we can get him to drink his spring water." Dipper said, pouring a small vial of the water.

"Hey, Stan. How would you like some tea?" Dipper asked, pouring it into a teacup and steeping some tea in it. He hoped that this worked. Stan took the cup and began drinking it.

"Mmm… This is good. What kind of tea is this? It tingles in my mouth." Stan said.

"Mostly mint, but there's some honey in the water." Dipper lied.

"Not bad. Maybe there is a good reason you came to me that summer." Stan teased. Stan still had a sense of humor, even if it was a bit mean sometimes.

"Why don't you lie down and Wendy and I will get you something to eat?" Dipper offered.
"I guess so." Stan said. The thing about Stan's rage was that it never lasted more than a minute or two. He was incredibly combative and had moments of rage, but they subsided quickly. Usually in a few seconds, but never longer than a minute or two. Dipper and Wendy went downstairs while Ford went and watched the shop. They made a meal for Stan.

Suddenly as they got to the kitchen, the earth seemed to rip open, another earthquake hitting. It wasn't terrible. Some things fell off the shelves or broke, but nothing major was damaged. Dipper hurried upstairs to make sure everyone was alright.

"Hey… That was weird. Hopefully everything is alright in Gravity Falls." Ford said. He checked the phone and checked up on seismology experts in the area.

"Wow. That was the Acadia Subduction Zone. Not the San Andreas Faultline." Ford said. That could be bad news for parts of California, where there might be massive tidal waves, though it might not have been big enough to cause undue damage.

"Everything is alright. You can go back to making Stan's lunch or whatever you want to do." Ford said.

-0-

Preston had a bodyguard with him. He had found that he hadn't been very lucky before. He had run into his daughter and her low-class friends. He was deeply disappointed in her. Had he learned about this hot spring and Pacifica had not betrayed them, he would have given her the opportunity to bathe in it. Those who were powerful, those who controlled the world deserved to also have immortality. They deserved to not have to die. He sighed as he saw the hot spring's cave. Finally, he would be able to bathe in it.

"Thank you. You may wait outside the cave if you wish. If not, you may go back to the manor and your money will be wired into your account." Preston said. One of the bodyguards nodded.
"It's our job to guard you as long as you are out here. If it's the same to you, we'll stay and make sure of your safety. We will remain out of sight of you. We don't wish to invade your privacy, sir." He said. Preston nodded, going past the entrance just as the earth opened up with an earthquake.

Preston roared as his leg broke. A rock had fallen on it and a large mound of dirt and other sediment buried him. The guards gasped and rushed over to where the pile was, grabbing whatever they could and beginning to dig.

They moved between loosening the dirt and using their hands to move the dirt aside. The process was long and tedious. Their otherwise clean and neatly trimmed nails were torn and had dirt and blood under them by the end and their suits were torn and dirty. They looked a mess as they reached the bottom of the dirt pile and tried to figure out how to get the rock off of Preston's knee. The leg was bent at an odd angle, showing that it had been badly broken.

They got some strong branches and using them as a lever to move the rock off of Preston. It was a hard job. The rock was heavy and they had to work for almost ten minutes. Unfortunately, they realized that they weren't going to get the rock off. It was big and his knee was ruined anyway.

"Do you have your mountain climbing kit, Jade?" The boss asked. Jade nodded. She had a kit that she called her mountain climbing kit, though it was really a survivalist kit. They rarely went anywhere they would need a survivalist kit. But she had a saw in it that they could use to remove limbs.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Northwest." Jade said, taking the saw and beginning to saw through his leg. He was completely unconscious and unresponsive. He barely reacted to the saw ripping through his skin. It was entirely possible that he'd gone into a coma because of a lack of oxygen. They worked for eight minutes on his leg and then carried his unconscious body on a sledge back to the mansion, immobilizing his body as best they could with the tools they had.

"Mrs. Northwest? We… Have bad news, Ma'am. Did you feel the earthquake back in Gravity Falls?" Jade asked.
"Yes. What happened to Preston?" She asked.
"We gave him privacy to go into the hot spring and as he walked into the cave, the earthquake hit and buried him in rock and dirt. We had to remove his leg to get it out from underneath the large rock it was hit by. Though I suspect he would have never walked properly again anyway.

"His leg was broken at the knee." She said.

"We removed his leg at the knee and secured him to the sledge once we got him out from under the dirt and rocks and brought him back here. It took almost 40 minutes to an hour to fully get him unburied. It seems that lack of oxygen has put him into a coma, Ma'am." Caleb said. Priscilla nodded.
"I see. You'll have your money in the morning. You may go." She said, seeming to have no emotional reaction whatsoever to learning that Preston might be in a permanent coma.

They bowed politely, getting their gear and heading out. Priscilla called a hospital in Salem and had them come to pick Preston up. She had no interest in caring for a man in a permanent coma. She would tell Pacifica what happened. She didn't feel the same animosity towards Pacifica as Preston did, so she wouldn't resent Pacifica, whatever choice she made as to her father.