Chapter Text
One more day until the weekend.
It’s the only thing you can think about as you walk into the Pines’ residence and lock the door behind you.
Just one more day until the weekend.
You’re not tired by your apprenticeship by any means, far from it! Despite your occasional learning bumps, this is perhaps the best thing that’s happened to you!
No, you just need a little mental rest from a particularly busy week with your studies. You’ve learned quite a lot in a short frame of time, and think your brain has earned a little two-day break to retain everything.
Your brain is a muscle, Ford had told you, it needs to be trained and take breaks in between.
And thankfully, he had promised you a rather “easy” day to cool your brain down in preparation for the weekend.
… What Ford perceives to be an “easy day”, you don’t know, but you are curious to find out.
“I’m here!”
You call out into the air as a customary precaution to let anyone around know that it was indeed you who came in through the unlocked door, and not a complete stranger.
Though the call seemed to be unnecessary, as when you walked into the shack to cut across the living room to reach the lab, you’re stopped in the doorway as you see three of the four Pines family members occupying the space.
One of them being Ford himself.
From where you stood, you can clearly see Mabel sitting upside-down on Stan’s lounge chair as she watches her brother stand as tall as he could, Ford holding a tape measure to check his height.
“Hello, be with you in just a moment.”
Ford turned to give you a nod, a small acknowledgment of your arrival as he went back to carefully reading the tape measure, gently pressing down Dipper’s unruly hair to get a more accurate reading.
“Looks like you hit a growth spurt. You and Mabel are exactly the same height.”
“Really?”
Dipper perked up excitedly as Ford set the tape measure aside to jot down a note on a clipboard, Mabel groaning before sticking out her tongue to blow a raspberry.
“Boooo! No more Alpha Twin!”
You quietly laughed as the twins went back and forth with teasing remarks (random, unintelligible noises to irritate the other), watching as Ford picked up his clipboard, tape measure, and a few other pieces of equipment before he waved you over.
“Apologies for the wait, I’m ready for you now.”
Readjusting your bag on your back, you bid the twins a quick greeting as you followed behind your mentor as he led you down to the lab, waiting until you were out of earshot of anyone else to ask,
“What were you and the kids doing?”
“Oh, I was just doing a little check-up on them.”
He answered you over his shoulder.
“Making sure there’s no issues with their development or any underlying concerns that needed attention.”
“I thought you didn’t have a medical license?”
You asked as you stepped into the elevator with him, hearing a quiet scoff from Ford as he pressed the button for the bottom floor.
“That only means I can’t legally practice medicine as a profession, nothing that stops me from checking any concerns my family may have, or helping someone in an emergency situation.”
He explained a little defensively, and you briefly worry you had accidentally offended him with your question.
However, he seemed to recover quickly, as he adds,
“You know, the offer extends to you as well.”
“… What offer?”
You ask, perhaps a little stupidly, but…
There’s no way he means what you think he means.
“If you have any medical concerns you want checked, I can do that for you. In case you’re worried about potentially wasting money on a ‘licensed’ opinion only to be told you’re perfectly fine.”
He explained, trying to sound confident and capable, but it comes off as slightly bitter.
“Or if you’d rather save money on a yearly physical, I can help there, too.”
“Oh, uh…”
The sudden drop of the elevator going down makes your stomach flip even harder at the offer.
So you had assumed correctly…
It’s a kind offer, really it is, but one you’re likely not going to take much advantage of on the account of… a few reasons.
… Okay, one big reason that was made up of a bunch of little reasons.
“Thank you, for the offer. I’ll, uh, let you know if I need anything like that.”
You do your best to show gratitude without any hint of underlying uneasiness, wanting to get past the conversation as swiftly as possible.
If you outright refused, Ford would likely try to understand why you were refusing, and if you sounded hesitant, he likely still would try to figure out why and explain all the positives.
You know how he is; helpful, and wants you to know it.
Best to just give him a subtle “I’ll think about it” and thank him for the offer.
You don’t like doctors.
Okay, well, not entirely true; you like doctors and their work, some are very nice even when the medical scene causes way too much burnout and thus churns out negativity in healthcare.
You don’t like being at the receiving end of a doctor’s care.
You don’t know what it is, but everything about medical settings was nerve-wracking.
The sterile smell.
Being put under scrutiny.
The silent anticipation that something might be wrong.
Having mild concerns being labeled as normal without further explanation.
Sitting in a waiting room for half an hour when you arrived fifteen minutes early, and then getting called back to wait in the exam room for nearly an hour, thus turning it into a smaller, more private waiting room without a water cooler.
And the worst offender of all: hypodermic needles.
You know the importance of herd immunity, you’ve gotten all the important vaccines for the most contagious and deadly diseases, but…
You may have skipped out on a few tetanus boosters, and forget the yearly ones for the flu.
Every time you used to book an appointment, you always had two days of stress around the time of it: the day before, and the day of; and since moving to Gravity Falls, you’ve neglected to have your medical records transferred on the fact that you were not excited to go doctor searching.
… Okay, maybe you haven’t seen an actual doctor in a few years before moving, but you’ve been just fine!
You stayed home and rested when you were sick! And took medicines as directed with water whenever anything was starting to ache! You didn’t need someone with a degree to charge you nearly a hundred bucks to tell you basic common care!
You don’t need a doctor, you’ll consult one when you’re positive any symptoms of potentially dying are not all made up in your head, thank you very much!
… Man, you cannot wait for the weekend now…
The mere thought of everything is making you nauseous.