Mario and Toadsworth stayed by Peach's side through the night. As each hour passed with no sign of her waking up, Mario felt worse and worse.

"It's my fault," Mario said, "I should've seen the bomb. If I had known there was a bomb up ahead, I would've rather gotten hit by the shell. It would've done less damage, and no one else would be hurt. I would've rather have Bowser win the race if it meant that no one got hurt. Especially Peach."

"Oh, poppycock!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "It was no more your fault than it was Bowser's! If he hadn't thrown the shell, none of this would've happened! And if you did get hit with the shell instead, it wouldn't have just disappeared like the other kinds of shells, it would've kept going and probably hit the bomb anyway! There was nothing you could do; it's not your fault."

Mario and Toadsworth got in to a long argument about whose fault it really was for the accident (and would've kept at it for the rest of the night, too), when suddenly they heard a soft moan. They turned and saw Peach trying to wake up. "Peach!" Mario gasped, taking hold of her hand, "Are you all right?"

Peach opened her eyes and looked up at Mario. "Mario?" she whispered, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"What happened?" she asked, looking around, "What's going on? Where am I?"

"There was a big accident during the race," Mario explained, "Do you remember?"

Peach thought for a while. "Yeah," she said, "I remember we hit a bomb… Are you ok? Is everyone else ok? They were so close behind us…"

"I'm ok," Mario said, "And I think everyone else is ok, too. What about you? Are you ok?"

"I… I think so," Peach replied. She tried to get up, but immediately laid back down again. "Ow!" she cried.

"Uh, perhaps you shouldn't try that again for a while, Princess," Toadsworth suggested. "Do you want me to adjust the bed so you can sit up?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she replied. Toadsworth adjusted the bed and Peach thanked him. At that moment, Dr. Pianta came over to see if she had woken up yet (he'd been checking on her every hour). He saw that she was finally awake, and looked a little relieved. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "Princess Peach, you're awake! That's great! Um… could you answer a few questions for me?" he asked.

"Sure," Peach replied.

"Great. So, how are you feeling? Any pain? Discomfort? Nausea? Weakness?" he asked.

"No, not really... Except my right arm and left leg really hurt… but that would be because they're broken, right?" she answered, noticing the casts.

"Yeah, that would explain it," Dr. Pianta said, "Anything else?"

"Well, I don't seem to be able to sit up on my own, and I feel really cold…" Peach explained.

"You're probably still in shock from the crash," Dr. Pianta said, "Don't worry, that happens to almost everyone. I'll get one of my nurses to bring you an extra blanket. Is that all?"

"I think so," Peach replied.

"Are you sure?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Peach assured him.

"All right, then, I'll have my nurse bring you a blanket and if you need anything else, just let me know," Dr. Pianta said. "Oh, and since you seem to be doing ok, would you like me to remove the curtains?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied. Dr. Pianta pushed back the curtains surrounding the bed so Peach could see everything that was going on in the emergency room, and then he left. She was a little surprised at the number of racers who had been injured in the accident. She looked around and saw Daisy and Luigi (the curtains had been removed from Luigi's bed once he regained consciousness). Luigi saw Peach once her curtains had been removed and muttered something to Daisy. Daisy turned around and saw Peach, Mario, and Toadsworth. Daisy beamed and ran over to Peach.

"Peach!" she exclaimed, rushing over to her and nearly knocking over Toadsworth, "How are you doing? Are you all right? And Mario, are you ok too?"

"I'm fine," Peach replied.

"Me too," Mario nodded.

"That's great!" Daisy said, "We were so worried about you two! I'm glad you're both ok!"

"What about you, Daisy?" Peach asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad," Daisy replied, "I only escaped with a broken arm. Poor Luigi, he's in a full body cast now!"

At this time, Dr. Pianta's nurse came by with a warm blanket for Peach and crutches for Mario. "Mario," the nurse said, "the doctor wanted me to tell you that you need to go back to bed now. He thinks you've had enough time to chat with Peach and you really need rest. She needs to rest, too."

"Oh, all right," Mario sighed, "I'll go back to bed…"

"Good," the nurse said, "Peach, you need to get some rest, too. I know you just woke up, but it's not a good idea to get too excited after just regaining consciousness. Daisy, are you going to stay with Peach for a while?"

"I was thinking of staying and chatting for a bit," Daisy said as Mario got up and went back to bed, "but if you need me to leave her alone for a while I'll go back and visit with Luigi."

"No, it's all right if you stay," the nurse assured her, "I just need to change the bandages on her forehead first, that's all."

"Oh, ok," Daisy replied. She left while the nurse changed Peach's bandages (Toadsworth stayed with Peach the whole time), and later came back to chat until the nurse told her to leave so Peach could get some rest.

The next day, all injured racers who were still confined to their beds were moved to another room (they needed to have space in the emergency room for other emergencies). Mario's bed was placed next to Peach's bed and Luigi's bed was placed on the other side of Mario's bed. Daisy sat next to Luigi's bed and Toadsworth stayed next to Peach. They were all able to chat with each other since they were so close (Daisy had to speak for Luigi, though, since it was hard to hear him through his full body cast). Eventually, everyone was able to go back home (Mario still had to use crutches, and Peach and Luigi were in wheelchairs). Toadsworth had declared the All-Cup Tour cancelled due to the big accident, so there would be no race on Rainbow Road this year (Peach persuaded him to at least allow the All-Cup Tour to be held next year, although Toadsworth had planned on permanently canceling the tour in order to avoid another big accident like this one).

A year passed, and they were all recovered and ready to race again…