A/N Hey everyone! I'm back! Apparently I upset a few people with my evil cliffie of evil. Sorry about that! I promise never to do that again! Just kidding, I can't make any promises because sometimes I just can't help myself and I need to put in the evil cliffies-they're just so much fun! Muahaha! But to make it up to y'all, here's a longer chapter for you to enjoy, cliffhanger free!

Please keep in mind that everything I learned about medicine I learned from TV and movies (and maybe a bit of Wikipedia and even a touch of personal experience) so I take creative license with ALL the medical stuff, though I do try to keep it plausible, even if it's inaccurate. Forgive any mistakes in that department if you spot any.

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! I'm horrible at replying sometimes, but I value every comment I receive.

Chapter Six

My heart is racing as I try to comprehend what's happening but nothing in the world makes sense and I feel like I'm falling and falling.

Never in my life did I wish that I was completely wrong about something like I am now but Mabel doesn't seem to be breathing. I pray that I'm wrong as I lean forward to double check and make sure, but there's nothing. No rise and fall of her chest, no air escaping through her mouth and nose, none of the wheezing sounds she's been making since her sickness took a turn for the worse earlier in the night.

My vision blurs as tears form in my eyes and I release a strange sound from the base of my throat, pulling my sister close to me, "No, no, nononono! Mabel!"

"What's going on?" Stan asks.

"She's not…she's not…oh man she's not breathing!" I gasp in panic, "She's not breathing, what do I do? What do I do?"

We're tossed around slightly in the back seat as Stan steps on the gas and the car suddenly accelerates, "Are you sure?"

I check once more time, but there's nothing, "Y-yeah…Grunkle Stan…" I plead with him, "What do I do?"

"Damn," he curses under his breath, "check her mouth, are her airways clear?"

I do as he says, even though it seems like an odd instruction, "Yeah."

"OK, good, that's good," he says almost absently, "What about her pulse?"

I press my trembling fingers against her burning hot neck, "It's there, but it's really fast…"

"We're only a few blocks away…do you know any first aid?"

"N-not really," I stammer, giving Mabel a slight shake, as though it would work to rouse her.

"OK, now listen to me Dipper, I'm going to need you to breathe for her, understand?"

"Like, mouth to mouth?" I ask incredulously, seeing it done in movies before, but never in real life. Any other circumstance and I would think it would be weird, but Mabel's not breathing, oh man, she's not breathing.

"Yeah," Stan nodded, "can you do that?"

"O-o-okay…" I stammer nervously, "um…h-how?"

"I'll talk you through it," Stan takes one hand off the steering wheel to run it down his face wearily, I can tell he's just as terrified as I am, "OK, you're going to want to lay her on her back and tilt her head back to open the airways."

It's a challenge trying to manoeuver in the backseat, and Mabel is dead weight but I manage to do as he says, following his instructions as best as I can. I'm sure proper training would reveal there is more to it, but to me it seems pretty straight forward—tilt her head back, pinch her nose and breathe air into her lungs—and I'd imagine if the situation wasn't so dire I would probably choke because of the sheer awkwardness of it all. But I'm outside of myself and I do as Grunkle Stan instructs without hesitation because she's not breathing!

It takes only four rescue breaths before she suddenly gasps for breath on her own gulping the air in greedily and desperately. Her eyes flutter open as I lean back, relieved. She has an almost disgusted look in her eyes that seems to say, "Did you just do what I think you did, brother?" and I can't help but grin as I close my eyes, dizzy with relief as I pull her into a hug. When I release her from the hug though it's clear that the hellish visions plaguing her are back and even though she's looking right up at me, there's no recognition in her eyes anymore, just fear.

I squeeze her hand and whisper, "I'm right here Mabel, you're going to be OK."

She doesn't answer though, instead she shuts her eyes with a whimper. It seems like all her energy now is focused on breathing and protecting herself from whatever invisible force, real or imagined, is tormenting her.

"Keep fighting," I whisper, "I'm right here beside you. You're going to be OK, I promise…" For the rest of the drive I repeat those words in a quiet mantra, hoping that my words are reaching her and that somehow they'll help.

Fortunately by then the drive is blessedly short and within minutes of Mabel finally breathing again, the car comes to a stop by the Emergency Entrance. I swallow hard still clutching my sister's hand, relieved to be finally here, but nervous with anticipation. Grunkle Stan climbs out of the front seat and slams the door, opening the back door moments later to retrieve Mabel. I quickly scramble out of the car after them and run ahead through the automatic sliding doors of the Emergency Entrance.

In this small town at this time of night—well I guess by now morning seems more accurate—the ER isn't very busy and as I burst through the doors, my heart pounding, a little breathless and teary-eyed, I am met with some curious looks. The nurse behind the reception desk regards me a second and as I choke out, "H-help h-her…" her eyes shift to look behind me as Grunkle Stan enters with Mabel lying in his arms, barely conscious. "Help my sister…"

"What happened?" the nurse asks approaching us and I swallow, unable to find my voice.

"She's sick," Stan says, answering the question for me, "real sick. High fever, she's been seeing things and has had two seizures in the last thirty minutes and stopped breathing about five minutes ago for about a minute, maybe two."

One look at Mabel and it's obvious that she's terrible shape, and as Stan speaks there is a flurry of motion surrounding us as Mabel is taken from Stan's arms and placed on a gurney and the ER staff take action throwing more questions our way that Stan tries to answer to the best of his knowledge. But to me it's all a blur and in the sudden organized chaos of the people surrounding Mabel, all I can see is her open her eyes and weakly try to fight back in panic as they try and hook her up to various monitors and machines.

I rush to her side and grab her hand as a nurse gently grasps the other one and puts something that looks like a clip attached to a wire on her finger, "Mabel, hey, hey it's OK, you're OK. They're going to help you."

Feebly Mabel tries to shake the plastic clip from her finger as her eyes meet mine, "D-Dipper…h-help me!"

"It's OK, they're going to help you feel better, I promise!"

I can vaguely hear the nurses and doctors talking over us, and while I don't understand the numbers on the screen that are monitoring her vitals I know just by their reactions that it's bad. Very bad.

"Th-that's not what he says!" Mabel cries, "Say's th-they wanna h-hurt us!"

"He's lying!" I tell her, knowing that I can't convince her anymore that whatever she's hallucinating about isn't real, especially since I'm having doubts of my own. "Don't trust him, trust me! It's OK! Let them help you!"

"What is she talking about?" someone asks as another tries to put an oxygen mask over Mabel's mouth and nose which only seems to agitate her even further, causing the monitor to beep in alarm and I'm finding it so overwhelming I can hardly breathe myself.

"It's OK Mabel…" I say as I'm pushed aside and away from her, which doesn't help matters in the slightest. In her confused state, she seems to take it as us both being in some sort of danger.

"Dipper!" she cries, gulping for air as she continues to try and fight the people trained to help her get better. She refuses the oxygen mask as though it's some kind of poison.

I can't help but wonder if 'he', whoever 'he' may be, told her that it is.

"It's OK! Let them help you, I promise that it's OK!" I say as another doctor or nurse, I can't really tell, blocks me from view. Realizing I'm only getting in the way I back up a step, trying to keep calm but the way everyone seems to be moving with such urgency does nothing to still the panic that's rising within me. I position myself so that I'm hopefully not in the way anymore but can still get a clear view of Mabel so hopefully she can get a clear view of me.

A young woman in pink scrubs leans over her holding the oxygen mask and tries to get Mabel's attention, "Mabel," she says softly, but still clearly over the cacophony of sounds of chaos enveloping the room, "Your oxygen levels are very low, sweetie. I know it hurts to breathe and I know it's scary but this will help you feel better. We're here to help you but if you don't let us, you'll only feel worse."

"Dipper?" she moans, her eyes darting around the room in panic until they rest on me at the foot of the bed.

"It's OK," I tell her, my eyes locking with hers. Man, she looks so terrified and confused.

"Help me," she chokes out between painful sounding sobs as she seems to surrender in defeat and allows them to put the oxygen mask on around her mouth and nose.

"Try and breathe normally, this will help," the pink scrubs nurse tells her. Mabel looks to me for confirmation and I nod and to Mabel's credit she's trying to relax despite the fact she clearly doesn't know where she is or what's real. But the chaos surrounding her is too much for her to take, and when another nurse takes her arm to draw blood, Mabel's eyes widen unseeingly and she weakly tries to get up and escape what she perceives to be a threat.

The monitor keeping track of her vitals whine and beep loudly and everyone is talking over it with the kind of urgency I've only seen in the movies, and someone says, "Get that kid out of here," and the next thing I know someone has their hand on my shoulder pulling me away from her.

A pale green curtain is pulled closed, blocking her from my view completely and I can hardly breathe as I back away a step and then another and then another. In the corner of my eye I see Grunkle Stan, looking a little distraught as he talks to someone in a white coat and I back up another step, and then another until my back hits a wall. After taking care of Mabel most of the night, it's out of my hands now and a huge weight has been lifted only to be replaced with a new one that I can't explain or make much sense of, but it has me shaking.

Oh man, oh man, what's going on in there?

Suddenly my knees give out and I slide down the wall until I'm sitting on the floor, my vision is blurry and I think I'm crying but nothing is really making sense anymore so maybe I am crying. No, I'm sobbing, like a six-year old little kid who's terrified because he doesn't understand what's happening beyond the fact his twin sister is suffering and he's completely powerless. Back then I had mom and dad to comfort me during such a scary time in my life, but now I'm alone. I've never felt so alone in my life.

I can still hear Mabel through the curtain, whimpering and crying and scared, confused and in pain and I had just abandoned her when she needs me the most. I know it's not my intention, in fact it's the last thing I want to do but I don't exactly have much of a choice because I'd only get in the way if I stayed. My heart tightens with guilt and I whisper, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" because I can't be there for her right now.

For most of the night I had been trying so hard to keep it together for Mabel's sake but now, I just can't contain it any longer. I pull my knees to my chest and uncontrollably let it all out. Tears are falling down my face, my nose is full of snot and I can almost taste it but I can't seem to stop. I'm nothing more than a helpless child, not the mature teenager I want to be, just a useless little kid.

The journal presses against my side, reminding me that I still have a job to do. There is still something I can do to help, maybe. Hopefully. I swipe haphazardly at my eyes and nose, hiccupping a couple of times as I try and pull myself together. I can't lose it now, if I'm to find out if the ghosts have something to do with this, I have to be able to concentrate.

I startle when I see someone holding out a box of tissues in front of me and I look up to see Grunkle Stan leaning over me, an uncomfortable but sympathetic look on his face, behind him is the doctor he had been talking to. I grab some tissues and begin wiping the tears and snot from my face as more rogue sobs escape me.

"She's in good hands, kid," Stan says, leaning over me. "This is uh, an old friend of mine, Dr. Dave Wong. He's going to see to it that she's taken care of. Da—Dr. Wong, this is my nephew, Dipper. Dipper…Dr. Wong has some questions for you that I…I can't answer."

I swallow hard and nod, wiping my face with the tissues and allowing Grunkle Stan to pull me to my feet and they lead me to a chair where I sit. Tears are still falling down my face, I can't seem to help that, but I've managed to calm down, at least on the outside.

"Does your sister have any allergies?"

"N-none that I know of…" I stammer, thinking back to any sign of her possibly reacting to anything before, but I never really thought about it and I don't remember any instance.

"Can you tell me anything about her medical history? Is she on any medication?"

I shake my head, no.

"OK, any surgery or illness that required hospitalization in the past? Any past injuries?"

"W-when we were six, sh-she ate some stickers that made her sick. She broke her arm when we were eight but…that's it that I can think of."

"OK. What about tonight? Your Uncle says she had too much sugar? What exactly did she consume tonight, and how much?"

"Just th-this candy, I d-don't know how much she h-had but it's…it's called Smile Dip," I say, hesitating because I know the stuff is banned and a part of me worries about getting us and Wendy and her friends in trouble if he probes much further.

Dr. Wong gives me a strange look, his mouth turning into a frown. "Smile Dip? Hmmm…."

I glance towards the curtain that Mabel is behind, wincing at the sounds coming from it and Dr. Wong steps between my line of sight and the curtain in an attempt to keep me focused. But I can't focus with Mabel so close and yet so far and in such distress. I flinch when I hear her call my name.

"Dipper, this is very important, your uncle says she's been hallucinating. She has an incredibly high fever right now and is severely dehydrated which could be the cause of her delirium and seizures, but when did she first show signs of hallucinations? Before or after she started to get sick?"

"B-Before…" I reply, "but then sh-she seemed fine for a while besides a stomach ache. They didn't seem to start up again until later, when she really got sick."

"What do you mean by 'really got sick'? Can you describe to me what happened tonight?"

Taking a deep breath I nod, recounting everything I could think of that might be important to him, only leaving out the part with the ghosts and the possibility that they might have something to do with it. The whole time Dr. Wong nods, as though he expected me to say everything I'm describing.

"Back when I was still in med school, there was an…incident with Smile Dip, leading the product to become banned here in the US. I believe it still is, were you aware of this?" Dr. Wong asks.

"I…I know it's banned b-but I don't know why. I thought it was because of the high sugar content?"

"It's important for me to know where you got this Smile Dip," Dr. Wong says, and my breath hitches at the grim look in his eyes.

"I uh…" oh man, I don't want to get anyone in trouble but if I tell him, they'd know we were somewhere we shouldn't have been earlier tonight, we could get in trouble for trespassing on private property. Wendy and her friends would never let me in their group if everyone got in trouble because I ratted us out. But on the other hand, what if by not saying anything I hindered their attempts at helping Mabel? I couldn't live with myself if I withheld something important and Mabel got worse because of it. "You know that abandoned convenience store? The Dusk2Dawn?"

Dr. Wong nods slowly and I can practically see the gears turning in his head as he takes in this information, "I know about it. It closed while I was in med school, before I moved to Gravity Falls sometime in the 1990's I believe?"

"Yeah, um, it's rumored to be haunted and we, us and some friends, went to check it out," I reply, lowering my head to stare at my shoes. "There was a display with the candy in there. Mabel had some but I don't know how much she had."

"Did you or anyone else try the candy?"

"No, just Mabel," my voice sounds empty to my ears.

"OK, thank you Dipper," Dr. Wong says, patting me on the back, "that was very helpful." Without saying any more he jogs towards the curtain and says something to someone holding a vial of dark red liquid on their way out. He tells them to have the lab test for something, but I can't quite catch what it is and then he disappears behind the curtain.

I close my eyes, exhausted and spent. My hand feels the shape of the journal through the fabric concealing it, and I side-glance at Stan who is now sitting beside me, his shoulders slumped and hands folded. He glances at me and I look away.

"Am I….are we gonna be in trouble?"

"For what?" Stan asks gruffly, sounding tired. Something seems to be on his mind, something other than Mabel a few paces down the hall behind the curtain. It sounds like she's calmed down a bit and I don't hear the whine of the machine anymore which I hope is a good thing.

"For…you know…"

"Going to that abandoned store with your friends?"

I nod.

"Meh," Stan shrugs dismissively, "you kids were just being kids. I'm sure you meant no harm and I think you've been through enough tonight without having to get in trouble and Dave…Dr. Wong is an old acquaintance of mine, we go way back. I doubt he'll be saying anything either."

"Thank you," I murmur quietly.

"So… let me get this straight though. You went to this abandoned store because you thought it was haunted?"

"We…well, I wanted to fit in with Wendy's friends," I tell him, "and it really was haunted. The owners died of heart attacks, their ghosts messed with us, possessed Mabel and wouldn't let us leave until I..." I stop, catching myself before I can reveal the humiliating way I defeated the ghosts, surprised that I said anything at all.

"You sure you didn't have some of that Smile Dip?" Stan chuckles, but his heart doesn't seem to be in it. "Haunted convenience store…what'll you kids think of next?"

"Can you not do this right now?" I ask, my voice breaking slightly, "Please? I don't care if you believe me or not, I know what I saw. I know what happened and you can even ask Wendy, she'd tell you."

Stan seems to stiffen in his chair, and there's a strange look in his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I would think that Grunkle Stan almost…believes me. Almost. But then he scoffs with his usual skepticism and says, "If you say so kid."

I wipe away a rogue tear that falls from my eyes as I sigh in frustration. I clutch the journal through the fabric of my vest, I need to do some research, see if there's truth to what Mabel said earlier about the ghosts having something to do with her illness. If there's anything in the journal that can help her, I have to find it and I'm wasting precious time. But I can't here. The journal stresses how there's no one in Gravity Falls I can trust, and right now that's especially true for Grunkle Stan. I don't care if he's family.

I'm still angry with him, though not as much as I was before. He may not have been there earlier when we needed him, but if he didn't show up when he did…I don't want to know what would've happened. Mabel stopped breathing and without him I wouldn't have known what to do. I'm grateful for his help, but it doesn't mean I'm letting him off the hook just yet. I still haven't figured him out yet, and to be honest I don't know if I ever will.

Just as I'm trying to come up with an excuse to ditch Stan so I can do some research with the journal in private, the nurse in the pink scrubs emerges from behind Mabel's curtain and points at me, motioning me to come over with her finger. "Dipper is it?" she asks as Stan and I approach.

I nod.

"You can go in if you want," she tells me with a sympathetic smile.

"How is she?"

"She's stabilized now, but it's still serious. We'll be transferring her to the ICU shortly," the nurse replies, "in the meantime you can sit with her. We had to sedate her so she will be out of it, so don't be alarmed if she doesn't respond."

"Will she be OK?"

She gives me a strange look, one of compassion and pity and smiles again, "She's in good hands."

"That doesn't answer my question," I reply curtly, her non-answer telling me more than she realizes, and it's not good. If the answer was yes, she would've said so, I'm sure of it.

"Dr. Wong will fill you in when we know more," she tells me, opening the curtain slightly to let me in. She says something to Grunkle Stan about paperwork but I hardly pay attention as I hesitantly approach Mabel's bed.

Truth be told, it's kind of unnerving because the girl on the bed might look like Mabel, but it's not her. Mabel is perpetually happy and always seems to have a smile on her face, always glowing and full of energy, even when she sleeps. But now, my larger than life sister looks so small and pale and lifeless under the oxygen mask that seems to cover half her face. I can see her eyes rolling under the lids and even sedated she's restless, still a prisoner of the nightmarish visions that have been tormenting her.

I grab hold of the hand not tethered to an IV and her eyes flutter open a moment. She looks so scared and defeated and I can see the quiet plea in her eyes, begging me to help her and then her eyes close once again, as tears slide down her flushed cheeks.

"I'm right here," I tell her as Stan quietly gives me a chair and I sit down, "Just keep fighting, I'm right here beside you."

Mabel's fingers twitch in my hand and I give it a gentle squeeze as she mumbles something, but under the oxygen mask I can't hear what's she's trying to say.

Grunkle Stan clears his throat, "I uh, have to head back to the Shack and get a few things. Paperwork and all that fun stuff, there's some documents I need. Will you be OK here while I'm gone?"

"Yeah," I reply hoarsely.

"I won't be long."

"OK," I nod, barely paying much attention to him. Take your time, Grunkle Stan. I have work to do, but I can't do it with you or anyone else around.

I hear him leave and I glance around to see that Mabel and I are now alone with only the pale green curtain surrounding us for privacy. I grab the journal and place it on the bed beside Mabel, flip it open to the page about ghosts and grab hold of Mabel's hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze as I begin to read.

Please let there be something in here that can save her…

A/N Man, this story has definitely taken on a life of its own that I hadn't anticipated... Anyway, thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts, good or bad. Hope y'all have a wonderful day!