"Now what's the holdup?" Luigi whines in his hospital room.
"Probably making sure they have everything they need." Mario tries to be comforting.
"You realize they're talking about drilling a hole into my skull, right?" Luigi reminds him.
"How could I ever forget?" Mario replies, "You'd have to do this even if we were back in Brooklyn. And as soon as it's done, we're going home. I promise."
Luigi contemplates, "Should we have called the family?"
"No." Mario shakes his head. "They just got their son back, okay? And they love you."
"They love you too." Luigi admonishes.
"They're always talking about how many clients stop by with thank you gifts for you." Mario tells him. "You deserve every one."
Luigi nods, but Mario can't help but worry. "You're not getting another headache, are you?"
"Just a small one." Luigi admits.
"Say the word, I'll get someone to give you something." Mario promises.
"No." Luigi shakes his head. "But you know what you can do?"
"Name it. Please." Mario begs.
"Sit next to me on the bed, and let me drool on your shoulder until it's time for me to go." Luigi requests.
"Done." Mario says, then proceeds to climb onto the bed. "Not going anywhere until they kick me off. I promise."
"Hello hello hello!" The doctor comes in a while later.
"My brother's got a headache." Mario tells him as he stands up from the bed, but still holds Luigi's hand.
"It's nothing ." Luigi insists.
"That's actually not uncommon." The doctor tells him. "If you want, I could give you some medication, but I don't really see the point when you're about to go under."
"I said I'm fine." Luigi promises.
"Can you just tell us exactly what you're doing one more time?" Mario asks.
"Okay, so given where exactly the mass is, it's a very delicate procedure." The doctor starts. "We can't take any chances damaging anything else."
"And if it turns out it's not even a tumor, you won't even need to take it out?" Luigi asks.
"Now don't get ahead of yourself. It's still a mass inside your brain." The doctor warns. "All the biopsy is gonna do is tell us what it is, and how we can treat it. Which might be with surgery."
"What about recovery?" Mario asks.
"If Luigi's not experiencing any other symptoms, I see no harm in resuming his life." The doctor replies. "Even within the next few days."
"Good, that's exactly what we wanna hear." Mario smiles, looking at Luigi. "Cause aside from a few headaches and a dizzy spell that made him faint, that means a quicker recovery, right?"
"That's a good indicator, but he'd have those symptoms regardless of what the mass turns out to be." The doctor clarifies. "Again, until we know what it is, we can't rule anything out."
"Not giving me a lot of confidence, doc." Luigi says. "But what the heck, let's light this candle."
"You got it." The doctor says. "Let me just check to see if we got an OR for you."
After she leaves, Luigi says thoughtfully, "How many times can we come this close to death?"
"Infinitely." Mario says immediately. "Because you're not gonna die, you hear me? You're in good hands."
"Your Majesty, don't you think Master Mario and Master Luigi's parents have a right to know about what's happening?" Toadsworth asks.
"I agree, but Luigi asked everyone not to." Peach tells him.
"But it's their family." Toadsworth reminds her. "They'd be down here the minute we tell them Luigi's in the hospital."
"Again, I agree, but Luigi is insisting on not telling anyone until they know what it is." Peach says. "Otherwise it would just cause a lot of tears and unnecessary heartbreak."
The doctor comes back, announcing, "We got a room for you. Ready to go?"
Mario turns to Luigi, only for his face to turn to one of horror when he sees Luigi's eyes roll back into his head, body locking up.
"Weegee?" Mario screeches in alarmed panic as he tries to get closer, but the doctor pushes him away.
"Luigi, can you hear me?" She tries to say as Luigi's body keeps twitching, Mario watching helplessly. "Luigi?"
"What's wrong with my brother?" Mario yells.
"He's having a seizure." The doctor says quickly as she goes to grab a syringe. "Mario, you need to step out of the room, now."
"What? No! I—" Mario tries to protest, but the doctor yells,
"Mario, I'm not messing around. Leave. Now!"
She manages to grab an arm, trying to inject Luigi, while Mario doesn't take his eyes off of his seizing brother as he walks towards the door.
YOU ARE READING
At Least Your Brother's Not Gonna Die Because of You!
FanfictionSequel to We've Never Been Apart This Long This is it. No tricks, no getting out of it. It's not the way Luigi ever thought he would die, but he doesn't regret the life he's lived. If only Mario could see it that way.
