Before Mario headed for the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital, he went back to his house to take a shower and change his clothes. He wanted to get the Forbidden Pipe smell off of him before he went to check on Toadette.

Once he arrived at the hospital, he found out Toadette was still in an examining room with Dr. Toadley. He figured, while he was waiting for that, he'd go and check on Luigi. When he got into his brother's hospital room, he found Daisy pressing a cold compress against Luigi's forehead, but Luigi was awake, and actually looked alert, though still a little pale.

"Hi, bro," Mario said. "You feeling any better?"

"A little bit," Luigi said. "At least a little more alert than I was before."

"And you're more coherent," Daisy said. Then she turned to Mario. "After you guys left to look for Toadette, he had a couple more fits, but Dr. Toadley gave him a sedative in his IV drip which knocked him out for awhile. Luckily, his temperature went down about an hour after that. It's at a hundred and one now, so he still has a slight fever."

"I just woke up about a half hour ago," Luigi said. "Is Toadette okay?"

"Well, I don't know for sure," Mario said. "She seemed fine to me, physically, just really shaken up."

"Poor baby," Daisy said, sympathetically. "What did you do with that Goomba, anyway?"

"I threw him into the Forbidden Pipe," Mario said. "Normally, I wouldn't have done that, but after everything he pulled . . . . you know, he was about this close to having his way with Toadette."

Mario held his thumb and forefinger so close together, there was barely any space in between them.

"Mama mia!" Luigi shouted. "Not even Bowser had ever gone that far!"

"Yeah," Mario said. "I'm still a bit sore at that Goomba for giving you those two Black Widow mushrooms, bro. Bowser wouldn't do that, either. He may be evil, but I know he's not that evil!"

Luigi and Daisy had to agree on that one. Before they could respond, the door opened, and Peach walked in, followed by Toad, Dr. Toadley, and an orderly pushing a hospital bed into the room. Toadette was in the bed, sniffling and whimpering a little.

"Well, doc?" Mario asked. "How's Toadette?"

"Well, she threw up a couple of times during the examination," Dr. Toadley said. "Mostly from nerves. And after what she went through, I certainly don't blame her! The good news is there's no sign of injuries in the, errr, nether regions, shall we say?"

"That's a relief!" Luigi shouted.

"Unfortunately, there's some bad news, too," Dr. Toadley said. "It's going to take awhile before she's fully recovered. This sort of incident can be very traumatizing, you know. I'm going to keep her here overnight for observation."

"Thank you, doctor," Peach said. Dr. Toadley nodded, and he and his orderly left the room.

Mario walked over to Toadette, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

"Hi, Toadette," he said. "I want you to know that I took care of the Goomba. I sent him down into the Forbidden Pipe, and I sealed it, so he won't come back."

"What if he comes out the other end of it?" Toadette asked, nervously.

"I don't think he will," Peach said. "That pipe might not have an exit route."

"Though I heard a rumor it ends up somewhere in the real world," Mario said. "Somewhere in Bayonne, New Jersey, I think."

Toadette nodded. Then she looked down at her hands, and sniffled. A huge tear rolled down her cheek. Daisy saw it, and walked over to her.

"Hey, now," she said. "What's this for? He's gone, and he can't try to hurt you again!"

"What's the matter, Toadette?" Peach asked.

"What if . . . . ." Toadette said, nervously. Then she burst into tears. "What if it was my fault? Why did he stalk me? What did I do to make him fall in love with me? What did I do wrong? I never should have asked you to hold my hand on the way to the party board, Luigi. If I hadn't, that Goomba wouldn't have even given you those mushrooms."

"That's not your fault, Toadette," Luigi said. "He got the wrong idea. If anything, part of it was my fault."

"Your fault, Luigi?" Daisy asked, incredulously. "Why would any of this be your fault?!"

"I should have tried to warn you about that Goomba sooner," Luigi sighed. "If I had only tried harder . . . ."

"Luigi, there's no way it was your fault!" Mario shouted.

"Yeah, it's my fault," Toad said. "I should have done more to try to protect you. Or at least did something about it sooner."

"Oh, Toad, that's ridiculous!" Peach shouted.

"Maybe it would have been better if I'd never been born," Toadette said. "Then maybe none of this would have happened."

Toadette burst into hysterical sobs. Mario was about ready to explode. Thanks to that Goomba, this once happy, energetic girl, who was almost always smiling, was reduced to a nervous wreck, just a shell of her former self. Mario knew losing his temper would not help Toadette's well being at the moment. As a matter of fact, he thought it would make it worse. Instead, he took a deep breath, mentally counted to ten, and pulled up a chair beside Toadette's bed.

"Toadette, I want you to look me in the eye, and listen to me carefully," he said. Toadette sniffled, and looked up at Mario.

"Everything that happened was not your fault," the plumber said, gently, but firmly. "Do you understand me? It wasn't your fault, it wasn't Luigi's fault, and it wasn't Toad's fault. It was the Goomba's fault. He's the one who decided to stalk you. You didn't do anything to make him do it. You didn't ask him to follow you around and scare the living daylights out of you. He was the one who made the decision to do so. You told him to stop, he didn't listen. You said no, he didn't listen. You did not give your consent, he didn't listen. You were not responsible for the Goomba's actions. I know I may sound a bit like a broken record, and maybe a little unsympathetic right now, but I want you to understand that none of this, absolutely none of this, is your fault, okay?"

"Okay," Toadette said, nodding.

"Just remember, Toadette," Peach said, "we're all here for you if you need anything. If you want to talk about it, that's fine. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, too. But you know one of us is always here to listen if you need someone to talk to."

Luigi, Toad, and Daisy nodded in agreement. Toadette wiped one of her eyes, and smiled a little.

"Thanks, you guys," she said.

"You're welcome," Daisy said. Then she checked her watch. "Well, visiting hours are just about over. Time for me to head out."

"Yeah, us too," Toad said. "Toadsworth might have a heart attack if we don't check in soon, Princess!"

"I don't really see a reason for me to stay here anymore," Mario said, turning to Luigi. "You're obviously on the road to recovery, bro, so I'm just gonna head home, okay?"

"Sure, bro," Luigi said.

"Ummm . . . ." Toadette said. "Can I ask you guys something before you go?"

"Of course, Toadette," Peach said.

"Do you think maybe . . . ." Toadette said, a little nervously. "Maybe you all could stay here for the night? I . . . . I kind of don't want to be alone. I mean, I know Luigi's going to be in here with me, but . . . . well, I'd feel better if you all were here, too."

"Sure, Toadette," Mario said, smiling. "Anything you want."

"I'll go make sure it's okay with Dr. Toadley and the rest of the staff," Peach said.

"I'll go call Toadsworth and make sure he doesn't keel over when he realizes the Princess isn't back yet," Toad said.

"I'll go see if I can dig up some more chairs or something," Daisy said.

Toadette heaved a sigh of relief. She felt so much better just knowing her friends would be there for her, and she felt safer with all of them around her.

The End