Well, now that Shealene told me how to do this thingy here I'll say something. I made a little tribute to Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door and all of its admirers in this chapter. See if you can find it :D

And. I don't own Nintendo or any of its characters or whatever. I never did, but I won't say I never will because I hope to work at Nintendo someday in the future 

The brothers burst through the hospital entrance to come face to face with a startled Koopa nurse. "Oh!" she cried, surprised, then glanced down. "Oh my goodness! Is that Miss Toadstool?" She turned around. "Make way, everyone, princess coming through!" Mario and Luigi followed the nurse and plowed through a crowd of gaping Goombas, Koopas, and Toads to the ER.

Once there, the nurse, named Koopie Koo, got right to business. She was crying out all sorts of orders to her coworkers. Within seconds, they were doing all sorts of tests; CAT scans, X-rays, drawing blood... "Why don't I take you two out to the waiting room?" she suggested, setting her hands on their shoulders. Mario winced.

"Yeah, uh, Miss Nurse, you should check on his shoulder, he hurt it pretty badly," Luigi said, concerned for his older brother and the princess.

"I'll do that, sir. Come with me, please, Mario." Koopie Koo led Mario to an X-ray room. "Uh," she paused, a bit shy. "...Mario? You do know you're gonna have to get undressed and wear this robe, right... You can go in this little room, I'll get the X-ray machine set up." Mario did as he was told. In two minutes he was out. Koopie Koo gestured to a metal bed. "Lay down there, please." He did so. The nurse pressed some buttons and soon there was a large... thing over him. "Stay still," she warned. Soon, it was all over. "I have to go process the X-rays... just wait here, please."

A minute or so later, she returned. "Well, Mario, looks like you've got yourself a broken shoulder. You gotta cut back on the fighting!" she said, a joking twinkle in her eye and a grin on her face. He smiled back. "I suppose we better go wrap you up, huh? Follow me."

About half an hour later, he was bandaged up and armed with broken shoulder knowledge. He went to the lobby to meet Luigi, but Luigi wasn't there. He probably had headed home. He walked over to Toadette, the receptionist. "May I see Princess Peach?" he asked.

"You sure can, Mario! She's in room 108. Be quiet, okay?" she winked at him. Mario followed all the signs and soon reached room 108. The door was open slightly.

"Peach?" he whispered as he pushed the door open. She was lying there, asleep. There was a doctor in the room. When he saw Mario, he came over and spoke to him.

"She's not doing too well, Mario. She'll be okay, but we're gonna have her stay the night and most of the day tomorrow. I suggest you visit her when she's home. We'll have her escorted back." Seeing the extreme concern on Mario's face, he added, "Don't worry, Mario. She'll make it."

"Thanks, doc," he said, disappointed, then left.

One night and one excruciatingly long day passed. Mario was sore, anxious, bored, and worried. Finally, it was night of the second day since the hospital. He couldn't wait; Peach was home, and he was going to see her tomorrow. The thoughts easily lulled his mind into the deepest sleep he had been in for awhile.

"Thanks for the ride, sir!" Peach hopped out of the ambulance and over to a Toad who helped her to her room.

"Night, Peach," the Toad said as he helped her into her bed. When he left, she breathed deeply. Her own room again. She wasn't too tired (she had slept most of the day in the hospital), so she turned on her pink bedside lamp and pulled a scrap of paper out of her glove. It was the note Mario had left her earlier when he had set her in his bed... she had already read it several times that day, but it didn't get old.

Dear Peach, it said, if you wake up and read this note, please come find Luigi or I. Hope you are okay and feel better. Luigi says you should stay for dinner. Please do. Love, Mario.

Okay, so he wasn't the next Edgar Allen Poe, but the only thing she noticed was the last two words. Love, Mario. Did he mean it? She really hoped he did. She figured he'd come to see her tomorrow... It was time to tell him...

Tomorrow.

END CH. 6