Chapter Seven

"What are you doing?" Alex asked when he saw his wife mixing a sleeping aid in their son's juice.

"He's not sleeping, Alex," Ariel said. "If he doesn't sleep, he'll hurt his body. He's tired; I know it. All we have to do is give him a little push," Ariel explained.

Dipper hadn't slept since they returned home. Mabel confirmed it with the two sharing a bedroom together, as they had since birth.

"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked.

"I phoned a doctor today, who told me it was perfectly fine," Ariel said. "I've also scheduled him an appointment with a psychiatrist."

"I thought we agreed not to do that," Alex said.

"That was before he wasn't getting better. There's three more weeks before school starts and I want him better by then. Or at least functioning," Ariel responded. "He won't talk about the journal and he's not sleeping."

"Fine," Alex relented. "If you think this is for the best, so be it."

When Ariel finished mixing the juice, she brought it to her son, who was confined to his bed. He didn't have the energy to do much more. Alex had placed a television in the twins' bedroom just because of it.

"Here, sweetie," Ariel said as she handed the juice to her son.

Dipper quietly drank from it before saying, "This tastes weird." His voice was hoarse from lack of sleep.

"I put vitamins in it," Ariel said. It wasn't completely a lie. "It'll help you get better."

"Nothing will help me without my journal," Dipper responded.

"Just rest," Ariel said. She looked to Mabel, who was sitting on her own bed. "Call me if he needs anything," Ariel instructed. Mabel nodded before Ariel left the room.

"You were away for a while," Bill commented.

"I was trying to avoid you," Dipper said. "I guess it didn't work."

"It's because your mom laced your drink," Bill explained.

"She wouldn't," Dipper responded.

"She called a psychiatrist for you too. Make sure you don't mention me. They'll think you're crazy," Bill said.

"Mabel will believe me," Dipper said.

"Okay, enough banter. Let's get this show on the road."

Dipper managed to get out of bed after the sleep he had gotten, but not without a few new bruises. Bill was smart to keep them hidden.

"Morning, Dipper," Mabel said at the breakfast table.

"I was going to bring something up to you," Ariel said. "I thought you would sleep longer."

"I'm not hungry," Dipper said. He didn't want to be drugged again.

"You need to eat to get better," Ariel reminded. "Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"I'm sure," Dipper answered.

"Well, let me know when you do get hungry. I'll make you something fresh," Ariel responded, not wanting her son to go hungry. Dipper only turned and walked back up the stairs. "He slept all night, right?" Ariel asked Mabel.

Mabel nodded. "All of yesterday afternoon and all night," Mabel clarified.

"He still has bags under his eyes," Alex commented.

"I'll just have to keep giving him the medicine," Ariel said. Mabel picked at her breakfast quietly.

Alex went to work and Mabel returned to her and Dipper's room. She was going through her scrapbook from their trip to Gravity Falls and watching over Dipper when their mother walked in.

"Dipper, we're going to the doctor today," Ariel announced. "I need you to get dressed for me."

"I'm not going to a psychiatrist," Dipper protested calmly from his bed.

"Dipper, I will not hesitate to take you in your pajamas," Ariel said.

"Let's go," Dipper said, too tired to continue protesting. He didn't change – he slept in a t-shirt and shorts anyways – only putting his shoes on and walking out to their car. Mabel followed.

"Hello, Llamanic," the psychiatrist greeted.

"It's Dipper," Dipper responded.

"Oh?" the psychiatrist asked. "Why do they call you 'Dipper'?"

Dipper made no moves to show the doctor. He was too tired and he didn't like showing off his birthmark.

"All right, we can move on. Your mother says you haven't been sleeping."

"Not until she drugged me to get me to sleep," Dipper said.

"She also mentioned you were being abused when you were living with your uncle," the psychiatrist brought up. "Was it your uncle who was hurting you?"

"Why would my uncle call my parents and tell them I was being abused if he were doing it?" Dipper asked.

The psychiatrist wrote something down on a clipboard.

"Sometimes to throw the parents off the trial," the psychiatrist said.

"He didn't hurt me," Dipper said. "No one hurt me."

"Can I see your wrists and neck?" the psychiatrist asked. Dipper looked at his nametag. Doctor Warren.

Dipper hesitantly allowed Doctor Warren to look at the aged bruises on his wrists and neck. Before Dipper knew it, the man was taking polaroids of them.

"Hey!" Dipper protested, snapping himself away from the psychiatrist.

"Sorry; it's for your case file," Doctor Warren said. "I'd like to get a picture of your face too, if I may."

"Why?" Dipper asked.

"It's for when your treatment is over so we can compare before and after treatment," Doctor Warren explained.

Treatment? Dipper thought as he reluctantly allowed the doctor to photograph him.

After their appointment was over, Ariel and Doctor Warren spoke privately in his office.

"Well?" Ariel asked.

"He obviously has a serious case of insomnia," Doctor Warren said. "I'm sending in a prescription for sleeping medication. The dosage is adjusted to his measurements to avoid overdose."

"What about the journals?" Ariel asked.

"When I brought them up, he clamped up. He wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the session," Doctor Warren said. "He and I need to establish trust before I can ask him more about it. It seems as though that journal has something to do with this."

"Just hurry," Ariel pleaded. "I'm worried about him."

"Just have him take the medicine. We'll see how it goes from there," Doctor Warren instructed.

Okay, so I used the name that was posted on twitter as supposedly being Dipper's name. I really wish we knew his real name!