Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

Shake it Off (GOOD ENDING Pt. 3)

By some manner of fate, there was an emergency room not far from where The Last Resort once stood. The EMTs had rushed Luigi there on the double, and he was immediately whisked away into an operating room upon arrival. He'd coded once en route, but thanks to Mario's presence, he was stabilizing. The man in green wasn't leaving this earth tonight, or for a very long time, for that matter.

Mario sat in the waiting room and texted Peach, the Toads and Gadd, updating them on the situation. Then, he fetched a bite to eat from the vending machines and spent the next hour or so keeping vigil outside the OR.

Several cups of cappuccino and two bathroom breaks later, Mario was greeted by the head surgeon.

"How is he?" asked the man in red.

"He pulled through, and he's currently in stable condition," replied the surgeon. "I've never seen anything like it. Your brother looked horrible when he was brought in. He'd lost a substantial amount of blood, suffered several first and third degree burns, took quite a few blows to the face—not to mention the various lacerations and gashes we had to stitch up. And yet he was fully conscious and able to respond to our questions before we sedated him."

"The EMTs were stunned, too," said Mario.

"In addition to the stitches, we performed several X-Ray examinations," said the surgeon. "I'm sorry to say that your brother sustained extensive bone fractures, especially to the ribcage."

"Oh, my God. He didn't puncture a lung, did he?"

"Fortunately, he didn't. But we'll have to keep him here longer than we expected."

"How long?"

"A month—maybe two—at least until the worst of his injuries have healed. Is he currently taking any medication?"

"No. Just the usual Super and 1-Up Mushrooms."

"I would recommend that he have a steady influx of those Mushrooms in his diet over the next few weeks."

"May I see him now?"

"I'm sorry, Mario, but I want him to rest. He's still coming around from the sedative we gave him. You can visit him in the morning."

"Okay," said Mario.

The surgeon took off her glasses. "He, uh—he didn't seem to be in a lot of pain when he arrived, though," she said. "He'll probably recover quicker than we've projected. But as a precaution, we're keeping him hospitalized for at least a month."

Mario bit his lip.

"The EMTs told us that he fought King Boo for the third time, plus sixteen major ghosts beforehand. How did he—and not collapse? Adrenaline? Something else?"

"He was thinking about me," said Mario, "and the others."

"The power of love," mused the surgeon. "It's a curious thing."

"Thank you for patching him up," said Mario. "I'll be here to visit him first thing tomorrow morning. Is your cafeteria still open?"

"Yes. It's open 24 hours a day, and it's located down the hall to your left."

"Thanks, Doctor," said Mario.

He stood, stretched and headed toward the cafeteria for a proper meal.

...

After filling up on cafeteria food, Mario called a Lyft and returned to what remained of The Last Resort, where he passed along the bittersweet news.