So I saw the new episode and...
LMAO they made a joke about bras! And the joke about Dipper's internet history was priceless.
My only complaint about the newest episode is that neither Mabel nor Soos contributed to the story, but Wendy did. It's usually the other way around. Also, Mabel was nothing more than annoying and borderline malicious here. Her character should have more in common with someone like Pinkie Pie (MLPFIM), not Cheese (FHFIF), or any other character of the sort. She has depth. Being silly isn't her only character quality.
I'm done ranting. Here you go.
Stan reentered the room alone, trying to keep his cool. He paced around a few times.
"Well?" I asked. He didn't reply. Mabel and I exchanged looks. "Grunkle Stan? W-what did he say?"
He looked down and sighed deeply.
"We're going home, kids."
"Home? We can't leave yet, Mabel isn't better!"
"Look, we can't afford the treatment, and...they say the next best option is to just...you know, let nature take its course."
"What?" Mabel and I said in unison. "But Grunkle Stan, I can raise the money! Just...just give me a chance. I'll pay for the transplant. I'll pay for whatever she needs. I just...," I held back tears, and I felt my stomach drop. "I just want her to be okay..."
He held his head and exhaled through his nose.
"Dipper, this hospital bill is going to cost me every penny I can dig up. How...how could you possibly raise so much in so little time? I have a job, and it takes me almost an entire year to make the amount we need."
"We just need to work together!" I insisted. "W-what if...what if we-"
"Guys, this isn't an easy decision. I'd do anything for my family, but-"
"If you'd do anything, you'll sell the shack," I said sternly.
"Excuse me?"
"You said so yourself that you were considering it. Mabel's worth it, and you know that. So sell it. Sell your car, sell anything."
"I...I couldn't do that," he thought for a bit. I frustratedly left the room, and he followed, closing the door behind us."They gave it a couple months before it completely destroys her liver. It's hopeless."
I swear my heart stopped.
My palms began to sweat.
It was this bad, and he wasn't going to do anything?
I had finally reached my breaking point.
"How could you be so selfish?" I growled.
"Selfish?" he snapped back. "Are you kidding me? I'm paying thousands of dollars for this room alone! I have to pay for her pain medications, everything. What have you done, huh? Sat there and told her it would be okay when it's not? Held her hand as she's slowly dying?"
"I'm thirteen, Stan! If I was in your position, I would sell the shack! I would sell everything I own for her. How could you not sacrifice everything to make sure she's okay?"
"Because...my best wouldn't be enough. Say she does get that transplant. They say she still probably won't survive. And it kills me to know that."
"So...we're just going to give up?" I looked down. My tears made little tapping noises as they hit the ground. "Just go home and pretend it's alright?"
"Dipper, you're too young to understand."
"No! No I'm not!" I cried. "All you care about is yourself! That's why you're such a wreck! That's why you lost Kylie!"
He paused and looked at me. I stepped back. I was sure he was going to hit me. And he had every right to. Instead, he left. I watched him go towards the direction of the elevators, and I just hoped he didn't hate me. I was just in the moment. I rarely said stuff I didn't mean. And now I just felt like a jerk.
That was beside the point. Mabel needed me.
I wiped my face and went back into the room. She was coloring. She looked up at me, hiding deep pain behind her metal-ridden smile.
"What did he say?" she asked looking up at me.
"N-nothing important," I replied, scratching my head. "Why don't we play some tic-tac-toe or something?"
"I want to know what he said. Are we going home?"
"I don't know," I sighed. I sat on the edge of her bed.
"Where's Grunkle Stan?"
"He...went out for some air."
"Again?" she tilted her head as her blue raspberry scented marker scratched the paper. "He's acting weird. Like, somewhere between snail with legs and three-headed dolphin weird."
"He's just worried about you."
She held up her paper.
"Ta-da!"
"What is it?"
"It's a list, silly. It's all the things I want to do when I'm better."
I looked at the paper. I couldn't help but giggle as I skimmed through. Some of them were downright adorable.
Go to Disneyland with Dipper
Go meet the band members of "Joy Boys" with Dipper
Go to Sea World with Dipper
Go to the glitter factory with Dipper
Go to The Puppy Cafe with Dipper
The list went on. It had probably fifty bullet points and counting.
She took the page back and continued her list. I looked at her uncomfortably writing as the IV tube pierced her arm. She would nod off a few times, and then come to and continue. Even writing brought pain to her joints. She had bloody tissues beside her, but she still smiled. She was still Mabel.
That's when it donned on me.
She wasn't going to get better.
She was never going to get better.
Not here like this. Not without that transplant she needed. And if Stan wasn't going to try to pay for it, I was.
I hugged her tightly before darting out of the room. On the way, I passed Grunkle Stan. He tried to talk to me, but I didn't listen, and just kept going. I went down the elevator and out the door. I ran as fast as I could, past the river, and nearly two miles to the Mystery Shack.
"Dipper, are you alright?" Wendy questioned as I entered the gift shop. Usually, I couldn't look away from her luscious red hair for long, but I was in a hurry. I took a nearby permanent marker and began marking up prices. "What are you doing?"
"H-h-ave to...," I was so out of breath, I couldn't speak right. "M-m...money...transplant..."
"Hey, hey, calm down," she said before I could finish adding more zeros to the bumper stickers. She put her hands on my shoulders. "What's wrong? You're supposed to be at the hospital with Mabel."
"I...I have to...ugh...fifty-thousand dollars," my words were slurred, and my lack of food and drinks the past few days was taking its toll on me. "I can't let her die, Wendy." Tears filled my eyes, and I could tell she was genuinely worried for me. It was so cute!
But at the moment, I didn't care. I just needed to earn that money. Hell, I was probably willing to steal it at this point.
"Calm down, Dipper. Speak...slowly..."
I hyperventilated for awhile before I calmed down.
"I...I need to raise fifty-thousand dollars...or else Mabel's going to die. Our insurance won't cover any treatment, so...if I mark every tee-shirt from thirty dollars to six-thousand, I think we can-"
"Dipper, you can't-"
"I know, but I have to try..."
She began to mark prices up alongside me.
"Hey," Soos entered the room, a bag of chips in his hand. "What are you doing here, Dude? And why are those hats eight hundred dollars now?"
"We have to earn money so that Mabel can have a bone marrow transplant."
"Oh, I see," he said. A few customers looked at us as we all three marked items with outrageous prices. Some prices were crazier than others. A woman with short black hair and two little boys beside her brought a tee-shirt and two question mark hats to the counter. I rushed to the register.
"That'll be one thousand, two hundred, and ninety five dollars and thirty one cents."
"What?" she was taken aback. "That's terrible!"
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you have to understand...someone very important to me is really sick, and-"
"Oh please. I've heard that one from Stan too many times," she snorted.
"I'll go to a thousand. Even."
"Are you crazy?"
"Eight hundred?"
"Thirty-five. That's all I'm paying. I'm not buying it otherwise."
I sighed, defeated.
"Fine."
I was now thirty-five dollars closer to fifty-thousand. I could do this. I wasn't going to give up.
The hours went by, and I tried my best to negotiate prices that were painful to look at. I told my sob story nearly a hundred times, and probably two or three people believed me. Soos and Wendy helped try to convince them, but it didn't do much.
On the brighter side, I made more than Stan usually made in a day.
The sun was going down, and I looked at my profits.
"Two thousand, guys!" I cheered. I hadn't felt this happy in awhile. I put the money in a big jar and hugged them both. "Thanks for your help."
"No problem, dude."
"Yeah, anything, Dipper."
"Now if I made two thousand every day..."
"It would take twenty-five days."
I groaned. That was way too long.
"We're just going to have to try harder tomorrow. And the next day. I'm going to show Stan all the money I earned, and then we can start preparing for the procedure."
"You know," Wendy smiled and patted my head. "You're a great brother. Mabel's lucky to have you."
"Thank you Wendy," I replied. We said our goodbyes and I rushed to the hospital, the jar under my arm. I caught my breath in the elevator, and when I went into Mabel's room, she and Stan were playing "I Spy".
"It's something blue?"
"Yup."
"Is it the walls?"
"Right again!" Mabel marked their scores on a sheet of paper. She looked at me as I entered the room.
"Dipper, you're back. And sweaty. As usual," she giggled.
"Guys, I think we're going to be able to afford the treatment. I made two-thousand dollars today, and I can get fifty-thousand in no time!"
"Really?" Stan took the jar and scrutinized its contents. "Wow...I didn't think you had it in you, Kid."
"I know," I couldn't contain my excitement. I hugged Mabel and turned to Stan. "And about earlier, I'm sorry. But...you don't need to sell the shack because I'm going to earn the money myself."
"Look, we both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But that's in the past," he said. "Anyway, tomorrow, you can go to the doctor and get checked out. Just so, you know, they're sure you can do this. I don't want to take any chances."
"Thank you, Grunkle Stan," I grinned. "I'm going to make three- no! Five-thousand tomorrow! Even if I have to con the whole town! You'll see!"
"That's my Dipper," Stan smiled.
I made two references in this chapter. If you can find them, that's awesome.