Chapter Seven: Starting over
September Monday 18, 2000.
Dipper had woke up early in the morning in the hospital after the car crash. When he drowsily opened his eyes his sight was clouded with a thick, dark gray fog around the edges of his vision and stretched into the center where a transparent, glowing white ball was placed. Confused, he tried rubbing the haze from his eyes, but once opening them again the fog had not panicking, Dipper rubbed his eyes with more force in attempt to clear his sight repetetedly.
He groan lowly in frustration and gave up his useless attempts to clear his vision. He could barely see blurry figures through the transparent ball, the figures contorted and shaded with a light gray haze as he looked around the area he was in.
The door creaked open and a small women strode into the room and went directly to the foot of the hospital bed and took a clipboard that was hanging from a hook on the foot board. She scanned over the information written on the paperwork. The women jerked her head up and grinned, "Hello Mr. Pines. Are you feeling alright?", she asked as she moved to the side of the bed to examine his condition further.
Dipper recoiled from her touch as she took his arm into her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry if I hurt you.", the women said remorsefully.
"No, no, i-it's fine, really. But, uh, I-I can't see anything. It's all j-just - blurry..", Dipper sputtered out, "A-am I blind?"
The women hummed in thought for a few moments, "Well, yes. But you're vision may come back."
"W-well, when will I recover?" Dipper urged. The women took a stethoscope from the pocket on her scrubs, "It varies from hours to weeks after the trauma, if at all. It's hard to tell sometimes.", she stuck the earpieces in and placed the end of the tool on Dipper's chest.
Dipper stiffen at the touch of the cold object through the thin hospital gown. "It's alright, I'm just checking your heart beat." the women reassured him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Ms. Northwest."
Dipper frowned in thought, that name sounded familiar. "Like Pacifica Northwest?"
The women paused her movements, "Uh, yeah. Do I know you?"
"Dipper Pines? Ring any bells?"
She removed the stethoscope from her ears and wrapped the tool around her neck, "Sorry, no bells are ringing."
"Um, well do you know Mabel Pines? She's my sister. You two kinda talked together when we visited our great uncle during the summer. I think it was 1992- maybe 93." Dipper explained.
"Mabel Pines? You're her brother? That weirdo that explored the forests by himself and claimed there were monsters?"
"Yeah. And that weirdo was blinded after getting into a car crash. Oh, and that weirdo is your patient; the only reason why you're getting an income and all."
"Tch, not true. I could have stayed home and bum off my family's fortune. But I decided that I actually wanted a life and work for the things I want, thank you very much."
"Still giving you that income." He smirked.
Pacifica rolled her eyes in irritation, "Just sit up so I can finish checking up on you and sooner I'll leave- win, win."
Dipper obliged and sat up, shuttering slightly from the dull pain aching in his lower back. "Heh, nice to see you again too."
Soon after Pacifica left another nurse brought Dipper a tray of cheap breakfast foods. Todays meal being soggy but hard pancakes with obviously prepackaged scrambled eggs. All accompanied by milk that was basically baby formula.
As Dipper managed to finish off the soggy pancakes the door creaked open. He instinctively whipped his head up to the sound, all he could see through the haze was a contorted tall figure peering out the doorway holding a bundle of plants, he assumed.
"Um, who are you? I can't really see well." Dipper called out.
"Uh, it's Bill." Dipper felt a pang of disappointment, thinking that Wirt was the one bringing him flowers. "How are you doing?" Bill asked as he pulled up a chair to the side of his bed, sitting in it backwards his long legs jutting out from the back of the plastic chair.
Dipper let out an awkward breathy chuckle, "Honestly, I've been a lot better."
"Yeah, I bet. I brought you flowers by the way.", He set the bundle of flowers on his lap gently, "I didn't know if you're allergic to anything, so I just got peach roses."
Dipper reached out to the bundle and held it close to his nose, "No, I'm not allergic to anything. They smell nice. Thank you, but you really didn't have to. My family should be getting here in a day or two and I bet they'll spoil me."
"In a day or two? They're not coming today? Why the hell not? You're blind for fuck's sake!" He shouted angrily.
Dipper motioned him to lower his voice with his hands, "Calm down, they're in California and the doctors called them yesterday. They are really busy with their work so taking off might be difficult." He sighed and rubbed his face mumbling "I don't even know where Mabel is. She must be worried sick about me.."
"Mabel? That's your sister right? The one that talked to you all night on the first day of school? Yeah, tell her that she owes me twelve bucks for sleeping pills."
He scoffed at him, "Be serious Bill, she means alot to me. Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in class right now?"
"Yes, I should be in class but I decided to skip today to keep you company. I figured that it gets pretty lonely when you're stuck in a room by yourself all day." Bill said as he waved his hand around lazily. "Especially with your eyes and broken arm you got there."
Dipper stayed silent, his heart sinking into a pit. He was a broken doll. Once so brilliant now reduced to scraps of an unattainable dream.
Buzzing from Bill's pocket filled the moment of silence. He held up his finger, asking him to wait a moment as he took out his bulky cell phone. Bill stood up from the chair and wandered over to a corner of the room as he took the phone call. He murmured into the phone in a language Dipper didn't recognize, he spoke quickly into the speaker.
Suddenly his voice changed back to English, "Yeah, I'll see you in a couple weeks… I'll try to remember. But give me some credit, I've been pretty good about taking them! ...Okay, bye. Oh, and tell Tony that he still owes me twenty bucks. Twenty bucks means life or death in college. ..Hahah, yeah. Alright, bye. Love you."
Bill clicked the 'end call' button on the keypad of the flip phone and shoved it back into his pocket. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair and sighed, mumbling under his breath, "Shit.. I hate doing that to her." He recollected his thoughts and sat back down next to Dipper, smiling faintly.
"So what was that all about? I didn't know you knew a different language." Dipper said with interest.
Bill chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah, haven't you ever heard me talk on the phone? My family mainly speaks Coptic, which is only spoke by handful of people now in Egypt. To keep Coptic alive my family teaches every generation how to speak it. It's tradition now."
He furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "Coptic? I don't think I know that language. I'm guessing it's pretty old, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, it originated in the second century and all." Bill explained glancing around the spotted wallpaper pasted to the walls of the small room. Luckily Dipper didn't have to share a room with another person.
"So, tell me more about your family. You said your parents are in California, right?"
"Um, well I lived in California most of my life but during the summers my parents would ship us here to get us out of the house. We'd stay with our Great Uncle Ford in a small cabin in the woods on the edge of Gravity Falls.", he explained briefly and continued. "My mother is a lawyer and my father is a real-estate agent, so they are usually at work or doing something work related. And when they weren't working they made sure that Mabel and I were loved and cherished. I don't know how they managed to do it, but they did it. They'd take us to parks, museums, amusement parks.. ", he smiled faintly as he recalled a memory when he was younger.
Bill tapped his chin in thought and interrupted Dipper's mini monologue, "I take back what I originally thought of your parents."
Dipper couldn't help but to chuckle softly in amusement,"What did you originally think of them then?"
"I thought they were asswipes for not immediately coming to see you. But, I guess you have redeemed them. They should thank you for that. I keep grudges." Bill placed his chin in his palm as his arm rested on the back of the chair. His eyes drooped lazily.
"Not everyone can drop everything for someone Bill. It's alright. I have you to keep me company, don't I?" He said as he looked down at his lap and smiled to himself as he picked at his fingernails. Dipper directed his gaze to Bill as he finished his statement.
"Yeah", he smiled back, "You have me."
As soon as Bill left the room because it was getting late Dipper requested a nurse if he could use the phone. The women obliged to his request and dialed the phone for him, handing the bulky box before leaving the room to give him his privacy. Dipper held the speaker up to his ear as it rung. He waited in anticipation as the ringing droned on. "Come on pick up, pick up." He mumbled under his breath.
It suddenly picked up, "Hello, this is Mabel Pine's cell."
"Mabel? H-hey, it's me.", He held the phone tight in his hand anxiously.
"Oh, hey Dipper! Long time no talk! What are you up to? Has college been nice to ya?" Mabel spoke with glee.
"Yeah, college has been alright so far.", he answered lowly. Maybe his parents didn't have time to tell her. "Um, Mabel?"
"Yeah, what is it? You don't really seem into it. Are you alright Dipper?", She asked sounding concerned.
"Have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?"
"No, I haven't I should soon though. Why, what's up?"
"Well uh", Dipper paused swallowing a lump in the back his throat, "I'm in the hospital."
She didn't reply quickly as she normally does. She had to take this in for a moment. "Why? What happened Dipper?", Mabel said briskly, tension in her voice.
Dipper sighed in affliction, "I-I kinda got into a car crash."
Mabel made a barely audible gasp. "Oh my god, are you alright?"
Dipper paused in thought. This is going to crush her. But she has a right to know. "Uh, n-no.. I was blinded in the crash.." Mabel stayed quiet on the other end. Dipper started to panic, sputtering out words, "I-it's alright Mabel! It's possible t-that I might gain my eyesight back!"
He could hear faint sobbing from Mabel on the other line, he too started to feel tears well up at the corners of his eyes.
"I'm going to Oregon" Mabel said trying to keep her voice from wavering.
"Where a-are you now?" Dipper asked wiping the tears from his eyes.
"San Francisco." Mabel stated simply.
"But that's at least a four day drive, maybe even more! Mabel, it's fine. Mom and Dad should be here in a day or two."
"I don't care if it's a couple days; I don't care if it's a couple years. I am going to Oregon. And when I get there I'm going to hug you to death." Mabel suddenly hung up after her statement, leaving Dipper no time to argue. He sighed in exasperation, once she made up her mind there was no way to make her change her mind.