Chapter 8: Sparks

Dipper sat in the lonely hospital room with the beeping from the heart monitor mocking him as he laid under the paper-thin sheets draped over his bed in the darkening room trying to sleep although it was only seven o'clock in the afternoon. He heard a faint tapping at his door, rubbing the crust forming around his eyelids, he sat up shuddering. "Come in."

A slim, tall figure opened the door slowly, "H-hey, how are you doing?" By his voice it was revealed that the figure was no other than Wirt. Dipper felt the corners of his mouth perk up.

"Oh, hey Wirt. You don't have to worry about me, I'm doing alright for the most part." He replied quietly. Wirt held a palm-sized box decorated with red and white stripes in his hand as he dragged the chair on the side of the bed closer and sat down. "That's good to hear." He said somberly.

"Are you... alright Wirt?", Dipper asked him hoarsely with worried eyes.

Wirt exhaled sharply and smiled genuinely, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you're alright, that's all."

Dipper thought he could hear melancholy within the quiet tone of his voice. Adjusting to figuring out emotions by voice alone was a bit difficult, so Dipper assumed that he might have misunderstood what Wirt felt and decided that it was best not to press on. "Yeah.", he agreed nodding slightly, "So how has school been?"

"Pretty well I guess. I don't have any reason to complain really.", Wirt said chuckling softly under his breath.

Dipper paused for a moment in thought for a new focal point. Only a few sentences in and he was already pondering what to talk about. Too bad there wasn't any classes to teach you how to speak to people.

"Oh, I just realized that I never asked you what you major in.", Dipper noted to aloud and smiled and laughed at himself. "What do you major in?", Dipper added jokingly.

Wirt huffed with amusement, "I decided to major in Chemistry so I can go to Med School."

"Med School? I wouldn't have thought of you being a doctor." He stated.

"Yeah, well-", Wirt paused and cleared his throat awkwardly, "Never mind. So, I- uh- I got you something." He said plainly as he placed the small striped box onto Dipper's lap.

Dipper accepted the container and fumbled to open the lid, "It's not grand, but I thought you would like it.", Wirt continued as he lifted the covering up. Dipper took the small item from the box and twirled it between his fingers. "A ring?", he brushed his thumb over the surface of it and felt engravings cut into it. "What's on it?"

"Yeah, it's a ring. Oh, um there's trees on it. They look like pine trees or maybe evergreens? I'm not sure." Wirt said, half to himself and swaying his head to the side awkwardly, smiling sheepishly.

"Thank you. I imagine it's really pretty." Dipper smiled and grazed his thumb over it once again.

Wirt took Dipper's hand gently and slid the ring onto his ring finger.

"Well when you get your vision back you'll be able to see it yourself."

Dipper felt his heart flutter inside his chest and air escape from his lungs like smoke seeping through the chimney. His words filled him with endearment for the boy. Wirt's soft hands taking his with great care left Dipper flooded with strange emotions he hadn't felt about anyone before, or at least not as strongly.

Dipper gave Wirt small sheepish smile, yeah. T-thank you Wirt."

"Yeah, no problem." Wirt replied, noticing Dipper's sudden giddiness. He smiled widely. "So, have your parents show up yet?"

"Uh, no, but they'll be here in a few days. Takes a while to drive here from California." Dipper said as he still had a tiny grin plastered to his face.

Wirt mouthed an 'o', soon realizing that Dipper still can't see his facial expressions. He took a mental note of that, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Oh, okay."

"So you haven't told me about your parents. I mean, I know you have a step-dad and brother, but that's about it." Dipper said trying to sound as casual as possible.

Wirt mumbled and gazed down at the at the ground awkwardly, "I don't have much to say about them. Normal middle class white family in the suburbs in Michigan."

"Oh, well what do your mom and step-dad do for work?" Dipper asked.

Wirt sighed and hummed in thought for a short moment, "Ah, well, my mother is a nurse and my step-father owns a hardware company."

"Oh, so is that why you want to be a doctor?", he questioned with his head slightly cocked to the side with interest.

Wirt sighed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck out of nervousness. "Yeah, part of it. It's kind of a tradition in our family, I guess. My mother owns the hospital and wants to pass it down to me."

"Oh, sounds a lot to carry. I don't really like traditions like that. What if you don't want to be a doctor? You can't force people to give up all their dreams for a stupid thing like that." Dipper rambled on half to himself.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", Wirt smiled faintly.

A sudden rapid onslaught of knocks came from the other side of the wooden door before a male nurse pulled the door open. He spoke with some edge in his voice, "Sir, all visitors are permitted to leave at this time. You may come back in the morning at ten o'clock."

Wirt stood up from the plastic chair, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize.", Wirt turned back to Dipper. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Get better soon." Wirt said warmly. His voice silky and husky as he turned and left, the tapping of his converses against the tiles echoing out of the room and the door shutting indicated that he left.

Dipper was short of breath again as he clutched the cloth on his chest. "What. The hell. Was that?"

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It was about half-past seven in the afternoon when a three taps interrupted the silence within the dorm room. Bill jerked his head up to the sound and frowned in confusion. He didn't invite anyone over. Bill pushed on the desk in front of him and scooted out of his chair and spun the door open, smiling. His smile slowly faded as he realized who it was.

Bill grimaced, "Do you need something Wirt?"

The man glanced around at the beige, narrow hallway, "Yeah, may I come in for a moment? It will only take a minute."

He grudgingly stepped to the side of the doorway. "What is it?"

Wirt took a step in and Bill closed the door behind him. "It's about Dipper. I figured since you're his dorm mate you'll know him better than anyone else."

"Can we hurry this up? I have a ton of homework to do." Bill said furrowing his eyes slightly and folding his arms. Wirt's ramblings may be endearing to others but they were nothing but time wasters. More time he had to be in the same room as him.

Wirt rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before straightening up and smiling sheepishly, "Ah, right, sorry. I wanted to have suggestions on what to get him for a little 'get well soon' present."

Bill felt the blood in his veins start to heat up. "I don't know. Look, even if I did know I wouldn't let you steal my thunder anyways." The taller man stepped closer and loomed over him. "Back off", he spat out in a harsh hushed tone. "I don't know who you think you are", Wirt stumbled backwards and pressed his back up against the door nervously. Bill slammed his hand against the door and pinned him against the door," but you aren't going to prevent me from getting what I want. Do you understand me?" His face mere inches away from Wirt's. Wirt recoiled as his hot breath hit his face. Bill's deep hazel eyes burning holes into Wirt's skin.

Wirt nodded quickly, "Crystal clear."

"Good. Now, stay away from Dipper and get out." Bill growled and stepped away from him. Wirt nodded meekly and scrambled to open the door. As Wirt quickly exited Bill called out to him with a sarcastic cheerful tone, "Have a good day!" he grinned and waved. Wirt smiled nervously and closed the door behind him.

Wirt stuffed his hands into his pockets and practically started to speed walk down the hallway down the flight of stairs. "What the hell was that?"