Woah. Chapter 5. (Three chapters in one day. Omg.)

-Review? Please?

Mario:

The worst pain I had ever felt in my entire life. This beats the time I cried about Luigi. I tried to look to my right but my hands were tied up. I heard him yelling stop and no. It all happened so fast. Then next thing I knew was the clicking of a gun. My head jolted up and my eyes widened. To he best of my ability, I craned my neck towards the chaos. Luigi's hand was in front of his face, he was in front of me. I watched the fight unfold like paper and the gun stayed pointed at him until he said,

"Go 'head." My heart had sank triple the times as it did when I thought I already lost him. But this time, I really could lose him. Right in front of my eyes. I saw Peach in the corner of my eye, she was crying, her eyes begged to get me out of here. I gave her a sad smile, but it was weak. Every single thing hurt. It hurt to talk, to breathe, to move. Everything. My back stung like you wouldn't believe. I felt the blood trickle down my back to my sides. I was breathing hard. I jumped out of skin when I heard the gun blare. I said it as loud as I could,

"No!" I struggled against the ropes. This world was so cruel. How could I have let this happen to my little brother? God, I wish I could take back what I said to him in the fight, what I said to him yesterday at the hospital. I saw him stumble and fall on his knees, he gripped his shoulder. He was trying to swallow the pain, as it never happened. Oh, Luigi...Don't be so strong. I felt hands gently take the ropes off my cut up wrists. I wanted to run over to Luigi and comfort him. He wasn't crying, he didn't yell. Nothing. He stared at the ground as an ambulance rush down the street. I saw cops take the minion away that whipped me, I saw everything until I fainted.

...

I woke to Peach and Daisy only in the room, my mind was hazy. I blinked a few times, then it came back to me. I was on my stomach, I felt something wet on my back. I looked up slightly, a nurse was wiping the blood off my wounds. I coughed slightly. I heard muffled cries coming from the other side of me. I hated the damn new rules with every single amount of hatred that I had in me. It had costed the one person I cared about to die. I said weakly,

"Where's..Luigi?" The nurse knelt next to me, a hand on my shoulder, please don't say he's dead. Please, I'd do anything to change that moment.

"He's in intensive care." He was here. Okay, there's a start.

"He's okay?" I felt the nurse nod slightly,

"Yes. Within that second he was shot, he lost a lot of blood. He passed out, but he's okay. Just try to relax, Mario." That's all I needed to hear. I then, relaxed and fell asleep.

When I woke, I was on my back this time. It had to have been several days, because my back didn't hurt as bad. Or maybe I was just numb? I felt bandages around my waist and my back. My wrists were bandaged too. Peach and Daisy were the only ones in the room still. They immediately stood up at the sight of my awakening. Peach had blotchy and red eyes, she obviously was crying. I reached up and wiped a tear away and gave a sad smile. Daisy was firm and difficult to read. Just like Luigi...She only cried once in front of me but, that was when she was seven and cut her knee. I sighed as I said,

"How is he?" Peach and Daisy looked at each other and then saw the nurse come in.

"Ah, you're awake, finally!" She smiled, checking my heart rate,

"Finally? How long was I out?" I ask,

"Four days, today's Wednesday." Woah, that's a while. I guess the sleep finally caught up to me. "I'm assuming you want to know about your brother?"

"Yeah. How's he doing?"

"Fine. Let me tell you something, Mario, I don't know if it was a fault in the bullet or something, but, your brother survived it. Consider himself lucky. Very lucky. He was already sick. He has a minor concussion and cuts and bruising. He's just...Incredible. You're lucky to have him as a brother." I sure am...I smiled a little. She continued on, "The bullet nicked his shoulder blade and cut the muscle a little but it didn't do any nerve damage. He's moved to a different room now, we placed him in a typical room. He was well enough to come out of intensive care. I don't know anything much else, but, I can go get his nurse, Cecilia, for you?" I shook my head slightly. Let the boy rest. Peach came over to me and ran her fingers through my hair. Daisy stood up and offered,

"I'm going to check up on Superman." She's referring to Luigi. Ha, that's a good nickname. Peach nodded and said,

"Mario, I've never been so worried in my life." She started to tear up again,

"Don't worry, Peach, I'll be okay." In truth, I was. I felt pretty even if it's only four days. Maybe I'm feeling this way because of the painkillers I'm on? Who knows? I could care less. Peach hugged me lightly, and kissed my lips lightly too. She took my hand, I squeezed her hand and smiled. Daisy came back in, I waited for her to say something,

"He's doing okay. It's haunting though to see how pale he is. Doc says he lost over 50 percent of his blood. He's sleeping now." I still had a wave of shame and guilt wash over me like a breeze. I bit my lip. Peach gave my hand another squeeze. Instantly, any worries I had, went away. I was still anxious to see Luigi, so, I asked the nurse, who came in again, if I can see him. She said that he's sleeping but, I go if I wanted to. I have to be in a wheel chair though, I couldn't walk yet. I decided to wait against it though. I figured that it wouldn't kill me to wait another day or two. The anxiety was really eating me though. Just like days before Christmas and the gifts are under the tree and you can't open them yet. Torture I tell you. I remember when my parents did that to me...It sucked. I'd stare at them all day. Anyways, a few days went by and Doc gave an 'okay' for me to start walking again. I was checked out of the hospital the following Saturday, thanks to numerous pleas from myself. I was able to walk fine it just hurt because of the stitches. I was fine other than that. Luigi had to stay a little longer because something went wrong in surgery. Yes, he had to have surgery. They wanted to make sure all the bullet pieces were out. He had opened his eyes once but went back to sleep following that. When I walked into his room, my happiness slowly went down because even though he was alive, he still look bad. He was pale as a ghost, he had bruises all over him, his hair was a mess. The only thing you could hear was the heart monitor's beep...Beep...Beep...It was a heartbreaking scenery. To see my little brother connected to a bunch of wires and tubes. Tubes were only there to help him breathe. Cecilia said he could breathe on his own, but they didn't want to risk it. They wanted to wait for him to wake up fully first and to hear his response. The anxiety had left me as soon as he moan a little. We all shot our heads up. I sat next to him day in and day out. Over-protective if you will, but, c'mon you would've done so too, to a relative. His eyes opened for the first time in hours, and they stayed open. He looked around curiously and the same blue eyes were still there. They always were alert and full of wonder. They could be cold or calculating the next, warm or happy, but the one you'd see a lot was sorrow. You couldn't blame the kid either, not to mention what happened in ninth grade...But you get where I'm going don't you? He blinked and his mouth was open slightly. He was trying to say something. Peach and Daisy stood up,

"Mario, tell Luigi I love him but, my father will kill me if I'm not home by nine. I've gotta get going." Daisy spoke first, I knew they wanted to stay longer, I was sure of it. Especially Daisy, she was reluctant to leave Luigi's side. We had told her everything that happened about a month ago. She still seemed like she had a hard time excepting it. Typical. Peach was next, just by looking at her, I could see she was exhausted. I insisted she went and she did after a small argument. Luigi moaned again and finally spoke,

"What...Happened?" His voice was barely audible, but I could still hear it. I said softly,

"You got shot," It was still a painful memory, "You're in the hospital, bro." I hoped that he was himself again, but, if he wasn't, I won't stop trying. A few moment of silence went by and then I heard him start to cry. Tears rolled down his cheeks like a waterfall, but he continued to stare out the window. I put a hand on his arm, "Hey, you're okay. What's wrong?" The only I'd hoped he forget was the fight we had. I tried to make my as comforting as possible without letting it crack.

"I'm scared." He says, his voice trembled and shook in a way I never heard before.

"There's nothing to be scared of." I say, shaking my head,

"What if he comes back? That minion?"

"He won't, he got arrested." I saw his own body shaking, his eyes were wide with fear. He wiped away the tears quickly. I saw the small scar on his cheek where the minion had whipped him slightly. His jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes never left the window. I looked at the window and saw that it was dark out. It had to be at least going on nine now. I knew it was late, I felt it too. The next thing I knew, Luigi sobbed in my arms. In the moment that he hugged me, I felt that sudden desperation disappear, that urgency was gone. It was replaced by protection, and peace. I knew he was alive. He was in my arms. Then quietly, in the most painful, heartbreaking voice I heard him talk in, he said,

"I'm sorry, Mario. I'm so sorry." I hugged him tighter, he knew that I had stitches running up and down my back; I still didn't care. Everything that he had been through came out in his tears, there was a long line of his crying between a sob and a scream. I was surprised to find no one come into the room to check out him. A lot of it was muffled by my shirt. After what seemed forever, he layed back against his pillow as I said,

"Bro, you don't have to face everything alone...Why are you trying to grow up so fast? You don't have to be so strong all the time." I ruffled his hair like I always did, but gently, I realized then that he had keep his emotions under lock and key. Bowser really had done it this time, he pretty much made him into a walking time bomb. I still couldn't tell if he was himself again, though. I waited for his reply, he eventually said,

"That moment...Right before he shot me... I felt every single thing come back to me. Almost like it was realization that I was living a lie. Every single memory came back. The fight, who I was as a person, my life pretty much." He says it so flat, that I thought he was only kidding when he apologized. He continued on, "The concussion really was from Bowser. I don't know, something inside him snapped, and he threw me against the pillar...I woke up that night screaming your name. I had remembered who you were." That shocked me a little. I had to be sure of it though,

"Are you...Still Antonio?" It sounded weird even saying it. He gave me a funny look and said,

"I honestly don't know who I am anymore. I feel better though." His mouth went to one side, "I now just noticed how far I am behind on college." Yep. He's back. I helped him out,

"Nope, you're still Luigi. Only Luigi would worry about school work right now." I grinned slightly. Then I frowned, it was my turn to apologize.

"Luigi, I'm sorry, myself. I didn't mean anything I had said to you." Just by saying that I didn't need him, just made me realize how much I really did need him in my life. When I said to not come around here no more, it really just brought us closer. I trusted him. Always have, and always will. I wouldn't change a thing.

I got the depressing chapters over with, now, I just need to figure out how to continue...

Review, please! :D