Chapter 16 Hospitalized
It had been a pretty uneventful day when Luigi had received the call. He and Peach had been taking a walk around the castle, admiring the blooming cherry blossoms. Luigi just couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling while being with the Princess, even with the assurance that Mario wasn't bothered by it. That was a good thing for his older brother to do; he was certainly being a good sport about the whole situation. Still, the way that Peach looked at him, the way she held his hand…it was too much. Luigi was only a few moments away from running away from her and head home, all while crying like a baby.
In some ways, the call was a relief because of this. When Luigi heard Mario's phone ring, he thanked his lucky stars that he now had an excuse to turn away from Peach's face and do something else. He could escape the unbearable feeling that this scenario was inherently wrong, that he shouldn't be here. He gladly pulled the phone out and put it to his ear with glee.
Unfortunately, the glee turned out to be the most short lived glee in history. Luigi's eyes grew wide as he got the message from Professor E Gadd. His heart skipped several beats, he shook so hard that his knees almost gave out from under him. By the time the phone call was done, and the device itself was back in his pocket, Luigi felt like he was going to throw up.
"Mario?" Peach asked. "Is…is everything okay?"
Luigi tried to form the words, tried to get his shaking tongue to cooperate with him. "My brother…is hurt."
Peach's eyes grew wide. "Luigi's hurt? What's wrong with him?"
Luigi's struggle to get the next sentence out was just as hard as getting the first sentence out. "He…he got licked by…a boohemoth." Seriously, Luigi's tongue felt as if it was made out of jelly. "He's in…the hospital."
Peach gasped. "A boohemoth? One of the most powerful types of boos?" Now she too looked scared. "Well then, we must go see him! If he's severely hurt, we need to be there to give him support!"
Luigi nodded. He wholeheartedly agreed with her sentiment. Honestly, he didn't even care that it was his own body that was going through this hellish experience. He was more so concerned about the person inside the body at the moment. Mario…
"Well then," Luigi said, doing his best to make it sound like he wasn't a push away from bawling. "Let's get going."
…
When they emerged from the warp pipe, the first person that they came across was Professor E Gadd. He stood outside the hospital entrance, pacing back and forth. If the movement of his lips was any indication, he was muttering to himself, and muttering to himself at an incredible speed. Luigi could see him shaking, which didn't help the younger Mario brother's mood in the slightest.
"E Gadd!" Luigi called out. He ran over to the Professor. "How's Mar…I mean, how's Luigi? Is he okay? Is he conscious?" Luigi's breath sped up. "Is he in critical condition? Is he internally bleeding? Are his insides hemorrhaging?" He felt like he was going to pass out at any second.
E Gadd took his hands. "Dear lad, please calm down. It's bad enough that your brother's been hospitalized; we don't need you to be next."
Luigi nodded. He tried his best to get his breathing back under control. The feel of the Professor's hands in his did help a little bit. Same could be said about Peach putting her hand on his back, stroking it with the same gentleness used to pet a cat. After about a minute, he felt decent enough to cause his body to stop trembling.
"I…I'm okay," Luigi said. He took deep breaths, the action soothing and revitalizing.
Peach flashed him a tiny smile. "You're a good big brother, Mario."
Luigi blushed upon hearing that. He was about to speak up (although in all honesty, he had absolutely no idea how he should respond to that) when E Gadd piped back up.
"Unfortunately, I'm not sure about Luigi's condition yet; the nurses and doctors are still assessing him." His shoulders slumped. "He got quite a good licking from the boohemoth, and that is not something easily recovered from."
Luigi felt sick to his stomach now. He swallowed a lump, his head filled with thoughts of his brother. His stuck up ass of a brother, the brother who didn't seem to concerned about the things that went on in Luigi's life….now that he was hurt, Luigi didn't even feel right thinking those things about Mario. Mario was a hero. He was the Mushroom Kingdom's hero. He was Luigi's hero. He needed to come out of the other side of this. If he didn't…
"Hey!"
Luigi perked up. That voice, the way it carried itself to the ears and the way it made his soul do a little backflip… Luigi was really pleased to see the Princess of Sarasaland approaching.
"I came as soon as I got the call." Daisy had a furrowed brow; it was so odd for Luigi to see her express such a grim emotion. "Is Luigi okay? I don't want anything to happen to him."
Luigi's heart leapt. Aww, she was concerned about him! She was worrying whether or not he would get out of this situation! That was so sweet!
"Aww, Daisy!" Without thinking, Luigi wrapped his arms around Daisy in a hug. This surprised just about everyone who was present.
"Mario?" asked Peach, the slightest hints of jealousy in her voice.
"Quite an unorthodox way to treat a princess," said E Gadd.
Daisy let out a little snicker. "Geez Mario, didn't take you for the touchy feely type."
Luigi let go of her, clearing his throat as he tried to regain his composure. "I…uh, um…" Man, he was bad at being his brother. He wondered if Mario was having better luck with adjusting to this whole body swapping ordeal.
The others all did double takes before Daisy spoke up. "Anyway, I wasn't asking a rhetorical question before. Is Luigi okay?"
"We don't know yet," Peach replied, keeping her eyes locked on the real Luigi.
"We need to get confirmation from the nurse," said E Gadd. "Right now, he's undergoing some very 'SOS level treatment." He gestured toward the door. "I suggest that we all go in. Better to wait inside in the air conditioned room as opposed to the blazing heat out here."
Everyone nodded and followed E Gadd into the hospital. While E Gadd talked to the receptionist, they all sat down. Luigi made sure to sit directly next to Daisy. Sure, he knew that he was supposed to be gravitating toward Peach (or at least pretend to gravitate towards Peach), but how could he miss out on this opportunity? This was Daisy! Daisy, the most amazing princess in the Mushroom World! Luigi couldn't not sit next to her, regardless of which body he happened to be trapped inside.
So, he sat as close to her as possible. He got some sideways, confused glances from Peach, but thankfully, she didn't say anything. This allowed Luigi and his TRUE true love to actually talk a little bit.
"You're really concerned about Luigi, huh Daisy?" Luigi asked, doing his best to deliver that line with the same cadence his brother would.
"Uh huh." Daisy sunk a little into her chair. "If his injuries are severe enough to impact his daily life…" she shuddered. "I don't think I could live with myself. Luigi, the sweetest, kindest, cutest person in the Mushroom Kingdom getting irreversibly hurt…." she shook her head. "It's like a bad dream."
Luigi nodded, trying the covering up his blushing red face at her calling him "the sweetest, kindest, cutest person in the Mushroom Kingdom." "It is…it is scary." He sniffled. "I for one don't want anything bad to happen to my brother."
"Yeah," Daisy said. She chuckled a little. "What makes this whole thing seem even less real to me is that Luigi and I went on a date less than three hours ago, and he was perfectly fine then." Her shoulders slumped. "How the tables have turned."
"Yeah." Luigi knew that he had to say this next line casually, not sound too interested in what the answer would be. "How exactly did that date go?"
Daisy raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "It was good. We went to Goomburger."
Luigi snickered. "Goomburger, eh?" He tried his best to prevent himself from falling into a laughing fit. Seriously, the fact that Daisy and Mario went to Goomburger was…oh, it was so good! It was already funny hearing Mario tell him that over the phone, but hearing it come from Daisy? There was just so much humor in this scenario. Sure, he himself wouldn't mind going to Goomburger in the slightest. But still, this was just too comical given Mario's hatred of the place.
"That sounds fun," Luigi finally said.
"It was. Although, he wasn't really fond of the place."
Huh, I wonder why, Luigi thought.
Daisy faced forward as she continued. "What's more…well, it's kind of an odd thing to explain, but…it seemed like he didn't want to get too close to me. Whenever I went out to take his hand, he would always recoil." Daisy frowned. "I don't know why this is. It felt…strange. In all honesty it…kind of hurt."
"Oh," Luigi said. His heart broke looking into Daisy's dejected face. Sure, he couldn't exactly blame his brother for trying to keep his distance (he probably felt just as uncomfortable with the date with Daisy ad Luigi felt while hanging out with Peach), but still. It still hurt to see Daisy this…confused. Without even thinking about it, he put his hand on top of hers.
"I'm sure Luigi was just overwhelmed with the reality of the situation." He smiled. "Any guy would be extremely lucky to go out with someone as amazing as you."
Daisy blinked and turned toward him, her eyes wide. "You…you think so?"
Luigi leaned even closer. "I know so."
Daisy blinked again, looking as taken aback as she could possibly be. After a little bit, she smiled back. "Thanks, Mario. That's really sweet to hear from you."
Luigi let go of her hand, all of a sudden aware of the situation again when he heard his love interest call him by his brother's name. "You're…you're welcome." He focused on his arm, keeping his eye as far away from Daisy as possible. The air around them practically stank of awkwardness, at least from Luigi's perspective.
Thankfully, the awkwardness cleared away when E Gadd come up to them. "We can go visit Luigi in his room now." He smiled. "The nurse said it's okay."
Luigi's eyes lit up. If the nurse said it was okay, that must mean that Mario was doing okay! His wounds weren't fatal…heck, they probably weren't even too terribly severe! So not only was Luigi's body safe and sound and ready to be reused, but Luigi's brother was feeling fit as a fiddle. This thought made Luigi's heart beat at a normal rate, all while a warm feeling filled his being.
So, they all followed the nurse toward the Mario's room. Luigi was pleased to see that his predictions turned out to be correct. Mario was sitting up and bed, eating from a cup of jello. Sure, he shook a little, but Luigi didn't really blame him for that. After all, being licked by a ghost of any kind was bound to leave a few psychological marks, some of which won't ever heal. Thankfully, Mario looked to be recovering nicely. This filled Luigi with hope.
"Ciao, fratello!" Luigi said.
Mario gave him a smile. "Hello." Before he could say anymore, Luigi went up and hugged him. This made Mario laugh a little. "Gee, Mario, you sure seem happen to see me."
Luigi chuckled and pulled away. This allowed everyone else to come into the room, looking concerned at the supposed younger Mario brother.
"How are you feeling?" Peach asked.
Mario took a breath. "Well…"
