"So if it's not a tumor..." Luigi starts once he finally pulls away. "What're we doing?"
"Well, you don't need chemo or radiation." The doctor replies.
"What am I supposed to do about my side effects?" Luigi pushes.
"The seizure? Nothing, it's over." The doctor doesn't understand.
"He's talking about earlier, before we came over here." Mario explains. "Luigi kinda mouthed off to me and Peach."
"Wait, are you saying this thing is making him act unlike himself?" The other doctor asks.
"Regrettably, yes." Luigi admits. "If there's any way I can not let that happen again, please, tell me. I don't wanna yell at our family like that."
"No, we understand." The doctor assures. "But as you know, just because it's not a tumor, doesn't mean it's not cause for concern. And given what we've found out about it, off the record, I'd say your chances would be better if it was a tumor."
The brothers look worried at that, but the doctors go on, "I have the best team looking at ways to obliterate it once and for all."
"Like what?" Luigi asks.
"Unfortunately that's where things go back to being risky." The other doctor warns.
"I don't like the word 'risky' being used to describe my treatment plan." Luigi says.
"There's still a lot of things we can do." The other doctor goes on.
"Then tell me." Luigi insists.
"Experimental therapy." The other doctor says. "Believe me, I know how it sounds."
"What kind of side effects are we looking at?" Mario asks.
"Headaches, dizziness, allergic reactions." The doctor lists off. "Possible short term memory loss."
"What else is new?" Luigi rolls his eyes. "Is my body going to shut down?"
"It's different with every patient." The doctor says instead of answering.
"And how do we know this experimental therapy is doing the trick?" Mario asks.
"By watching how it affects the mass." The other doctor explains.
"If it were a tumor, this wouldn't even be an option. But you don't have a tumor." The doctor says.
"What if the experimental therapy doesn't do anything?" Luigi asks worriedly.
"Let's give it a shot first before we catastrophize, shall we?" The other doctor advises.
"I know this news is bittersweet, but be glad that you do not have cancer." The doctor says. "Even in a world like this, that's a big deal."
"We'll let you two have a moment alone." The other doctor says.
"And when we come back, we'll talk about setting up an appointment." The doctor says, before she and the other doctor leave.
"Be sure to tell the princess!" Luigi calls after them as the door closes.
"What did I tell ya, Weegee?" Mario says with a smile. "You're not dying."
"Yet..." Luigi trails off thoughtfully, then stands up to look at the charts himself. "Why can't we just wish on a star and have this whole thing be done with?"
"What do you think I've been doing since we found out?" Mario says as Luigi closes the charts.
He turns to Mario, one hand on his shoulder, "You ever wonder when our lives got so crazy to where wishing on a star was even an option?"
"When we moved to the Mushroom Kingdom. Duh." Mario says like it's obvious. "I wouldn't change a thing, because we're stronger here than we ever were back in Brooklyn."
"We're stronger because we're together. " Luigi emphasizes, squeezing Mario's neck. "And I don't even wanna think about the day that changes."
"Then don't." Mario says, pulling him in. "Because it's never going to."
"Not even when my body shuts down and I'm yelling at you over nothing?" Luigi asks.
"Not even then." Mario promises with a grin. "So you need a wheelchair and I need some soundproof earplugs. Big whoop."
That makes Luigi laugh, then hug Mario back. "I love you, big bro."
"Love you too, Weegee." Mario rubs his back. "We're gonna fight this every step of the way or die trying." He pulls back to press their foreheads together. "Nothing can hurt us..."
"As long as we're together." Luigi finishes in a whisper, before they go back in for another hug.
"Why the long silence?" Luigi's doctor asks the other doctor.
"Just thinking about what Luigi has to go through with the experimental therapy." The other doctor replies.
"But it's gonna work." Luigi's doctor says. "Right?"
"That's our hope." The other doctor agrees.
"I've been here 24 hours straight, and I'm still not going home." Luigi's doctor says. "I'm gonna catch some z's in the on-call room."
As she leaves, the other doctor bumps into Peach.
"Oh, your Majesty!" He says. "I was about to head to the castle. We have the biopsy results. The mass isn't a tumor."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Peach smiles. "I take it Mario and Luigi are relieved?"
"Understatement of the century." The other doctor says.
"Thanks for telling me." Peach says. "But I just came to hear the results, and now I really have to get back to the castle."
And so she leaves with a smile on her face.
"So the doctors have finally caught on that the thing in Luigi's head isn't a tumor." Mimi tells Nastasia.
"So Mario and Luigi are breathing a sigh of relief?" Nastasia asks.
"A temporary one." Mimi says. "They're going to try and administer experimental therapy to try and kill it so it doesn't get any bigger, and carefully take it all out."
"It won't work." Nastasia says. "Even if they did get it all out, it'll just grow back. For something like a Floro Sprout, you'd need the equivalent of the Purity Heart itself to obliterate it entirely."
YOU ARE READING
At Least Your Brother's Not Gonna Die Because of You!
FanfictionThis 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.
