The Unknown

5

Dipper wondered if Bill was ever going to show up again. It had been three days since he’d thanked Bill for his help with Mabel and asked him on a date. Mabel was going to be discharged soon and it was starting to get really annoying how Bill was avoiding him.

He clenched his fists at his sides and chewed on his bottom lip. Bill still hadn’t fulfilled his end of the deal…not that that was a problem per se, but it was just getting on his nerves that Bill wasn’t taking him seriously. It was bothering him more so that Bill was staying gone for long periods of time because at this point he was losing opportunities.

He pushed open the door to Mabel’s room without bothering to knock. She looked up from where she was lying upright against her pillow, knitting a new sweater. It was something creative for her to do while she was in the ER that didn’t involve turning the room into her personal art studio.

“Hey Mabel,” he greeted lowly. Her response was delayed and in the hesitance, Dipper looked up at his sister to catch a massive grin spread across her blushing face. Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Hey bro-bro, guess what!” she beamed.

Dipper raised an eyebrow and turned slightly more toward her. “Is…everything alright?”

“Oh, it’s better than alright! How do you think this looks?” she turned her magenta creation around to show her brother. The design was a red cross with pink hearts in the four inner corners. The caption read ‘Love Doctor’. “Do you think Nurse Cullen will like this?” she asked.

“I…what?” Dipper questioned, face twisting in confusion. He dropped his shoulders and cocked his head.

“He’s so cute and I think I totally have a chance with him!”

“No offense Mabel, but don’t you think he’s a little too old for you?”

“Hush, I’m almost finished with this,” she silenced, bringing a finger to her lips. She then continued knitting furiously as if her life depended on it.

Dipper rolled his eyes and sat down in one of the chairs across from her bed. He pulled out his journal from under his arm and began flipping through it. As he scanned the pages, searching through obedience spells, truth spells, compulsion spells, and other manipulation techniques, he tapped a finger against his cheek and rolled his tongue in his mouth.

The air was quiet between them aside from the occasional clicking of Mabel’s knitting needles and the soft rustling of pages turning. The golden rays from the evening sunlight streamed in from the window and warmed the room, the low chatter from the hospital television allowing for a bit of atmosphere.

Soon a knock came on the door, followed by the squeak of the hinges turning. In waltzed Mabel’s caretaker, Nurse Cullen. A happy gasp rushed from her lips as her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and twinkled. As he approached her bedside, his skin seemed to glitter in the velvet rays.

“Miss Pines, how’re you doing this evening?” he asked with a lidded gaze. His voice was low and somewhat breathy. Dipper rolled his eyes; pretty boy.

Mabel hid her work-in-progress sweater behind her back so that her crush wouldn’t see it. She smiled even wider, if that was possible.

“Better now that you’re here,” she flirted. The nurse smiled and shuffled his clipboard around in his arms. He pushed back his overly gelled hair and broadened his shoulders.

“I’m glad to hear it, Miss Pines, because you’re being discharged tomorrow. Congratulations on your full recovery!”

And in an instant Mabel’s face dropped from overjoyed to heartbroken. Her mouth fell agape, eyes filled to the brim with horror. She scooted forward and sat up on her knees so she could put her hands on his shoulders.