The hospital was filled with an unexpected quiet as the mounting tension of the doctors and waiting loved ones alike built exponentially. Steadily the waiting room filled with the friends and family members of the stricken Toads. Children cried in the corners, husbands prayed silently and friends gathered in mass to volunteer their services as needed. As the snow fell from the sky in heavy flakes, so too did the hope of the unafflicted Toads.
Wearing the all too distinct white lab coats provided by the hospital, Mario and Luigi diligently checked in on each of the patients on a timely manner. Seeing the heroes cloaked in white rather than their trademark red and green attire seemed almost disturbing in the increasingly sickly environment.
Stepping outside of the room where Peach and Daisy had been admitted, Mario found Luigi leaning against the wall opposite the door with a downcast grimace marring his face.
"Hey Weege," Mario spoke up softly. "no changes, huh?"
Luigi shook his head slowly. "No. No one is getting better. And the doctors still don't have a diagnosis."
"Yet." Mario interjected confidently. "They will. Remember what you said earlier? We're not going to lose them, and you're right!"
"Yeah." Luigi looked up with a gentle smile. "They'll pull through, we just have to be patient."
"Right." Mario put a hand on Luigi's shoulder. "C'mon. Let's go check in with Dr. Toadley. Maybe something new has turned up."
Walking together down the lengthy corridor the recruited brothers found their way to the elevator and stepped inside the car. As the doors closed the duo caught one last sight of the crowded waiting room filled with the teary eyed Toads, who were just as anxious for answers as the doctors. Mario and Luigi descended to the culture lab one floor down, not sure of what to expect.
"It's been hours since testing began." Luigi commented without emotion in his voice; his eyes staring blankly at the closed doors of the elevator car.
"I know." Mario was the first to step through the doors once the elevator reached the request floor. "Waiting is always the worst part."
"I can imagine worse..." Luigi muttered to himself as he followed his older brother into the isolated laboratory.
The lab was very large and smelled of disinfectant. The white lights above were unnaturally bright and gave the room a disturbing aura of scientific control. Test tubes, beakers and several computers lined a large rectangular table that ran down the center of the lab. Each computer was occupied by a lab technician; all male as even the female lab tech were affected by the strange sickness, and each technician looked more exausted than the last.
Sitting behind a microscope at a desk in the rear of the lab was Dr. Toadley himself. He was focused on something being displayed, yet managed to diligantly take notes without having to look away.
"Dr. Toadley?" Mario and Luigi approached the astute doctor without hesitation. "Has there been any progress?"
Pulling his tired eyes away from the lenses of the microscope Dr. Toadley pressed his hand to the side of his face and let loose a sigh that mirrored his fatigue. "I believe we may finally have a lead."
"Yeah!" Mario smiled and anxiously awaited to listen to what Dr. Toadley had to say.
"Finally..." Luigi's tense shoulders sagged with relief at the good news. "What did you find?"
"Well," leaning back in the chair Dr. Toadley stretched his tired back. "it appears that the cause of the sickness is an allergic reaction."
"An allergy?" Mario repeated dumbfounded. "Do you know where it came from?"
Nodding Dr. Toadley continued his explanation. "The snow."
Luigi's eyebrow arched with confusion. "Snow? What kind of 'snow allergy' affects only women?"
"The kind of snow that's full of a rare pollen that can be to toxic to anyone who breathes the spores."
Mario and Luigi exchanged glances of concern before sitting down in two vacant chairs across from Dr. Toadley.
"You see gentlemen," Dr. Toadley slid a piece of paper toward them with the collected results printed out. "this unusual blizzard originated from the West, and beyond the Western most mountain range lays a forest full of a rare and potent flora of trees. The leaves of the trees contain a thick and very aggressive pollen that not only causes severe reactions in those who've been exposed, but it attacks the body in such a way that the victims are left in a state of hypothermia, coma and in extreme cases respiratory distress."
"Is..." Luigi quietly spoke up, unable to look Dr. Toadley in the eye. "is there a cure?"
The answer was unexpected.
"Yes... and no."
...to be continued...