Panic and chaos had set in as Daisy was rushed to the hospital, as the medical wing didn't have the heavy equipment to deal with a stab wound that deep. Yoshi half-carried Daisy on his back, but it was bumpy and awkward, so Toad helped to keep her on. Luigi kept his hand on Daisy's side, keeping pressure on the wound, but he was shouting and shaking so much that it was doing little to staunch the blood. Toadsworth had fainted, but Peach had managed to grab him before he hit the floor, so she had the duty of carrying him. Daisy herself had stopped screaming, as the loss of blood was making her woozy and faint.

"Don't...don't leave me..." she whispered. She looked down at herself, her entire front side saturated a dark red. "Lotta...lotta blood there," she continued, weakly raising her bloody hands to look at them. "Have to...wash dress..."

"You're gonna be okay, Daisy, you're gonna be fine!" Peach was sobbing hysterically as she struggled to carry the elderly Toad. "Oh my God, o-oh my, there's so much blood...!"

"Don't talk, Daisy, you have to save your energy," Luigi wheezed, his throat already sore from screaming. "Don't talk, please, don't talk, you're gonna be fine, you're fine, oh God, where is the fucking ambulance? Someone call an ambulance already!"

"It's already been called-"

"THEN WHERE THE FUCK IS IT? Oh God, please just be okay, why the fuck did this happen, please, oh please...!"

"We're not even outside yet, Luigi, please, she's gonna be fine! The ambulance will be there!"

"Oh God, the blood isn't stopping-"

"Where the fuck did L go? Where's the fucking police?"

"I don't know, I don't know, did anyone see him-"

"No, no one saw him, the bastard can definitely run fast-"

"Oh, thank goodness, the ambulance is here! Wave them down for us, please!"

"We're right here! Please, help us! Daisy's been stabbed!"

Dark, heavy clouds bruised the grey sky and a light silver rain started to fall, gently obscuring everything in sight.

It hardly mattered to Mario as he ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The tears that blinded his eyes streaked down his face, already larger than the tiny raindrops that fell from the sky. His chest hurt from the running, and his extended belly was aching, too; the unborn child was clearly not enjoying this either.

He didn't think of where to go; it was just instinctive. The one place that he could feel completely safe and be alone without being lonely.

About fifteen minutes later, he had left the town limits and had arrived at the Field of Paper Flowers.

But even the field looked distressed and sad. Mario hadn't visited this place since That Day, and the flowers looked ready to wilt. None of the butterflies were out, mostly due to the rain. The whole place looked grey without his special care.

"I-I'm sorry..." he whispered as if the flowers themselves were listening. He couldn't bend down very well due to his pregnancy, but he did manage to bend down enough to caress some of the taller plants. The leaves had been limp and drying, and it had just made Mario feel more guilty for not visiting sooner.

"I...I've been going through a tough time," he explained to the flowers. The small plants seemed to lean in, as if listening closely. "That's why...wh-why I haven't come back here. B-But I'm sorry...I just need some time to myself right now...I-I'm not feeling well..."

Mario was starting to get wet from the rain, but he either did not notice or simply didn't care. He sniffled and wiped his eyes, but it did little to help. "I know I've told some of the butterflies a few weeks back...but I thought everyone should know this time. I'm...I'm pregnant. I'm gonna...have a baby...in a month or so, I don't know. I don't know how it's gonna go or how the baby will look like...but...L...he-"

Mario couldn't continue any longer. He hugged his arms to his chest, whimpering. He would have sat down, but it would have been too difficult to stand again. "I-I'm sorry...e-everything's just been getting too hard to handle...I just wanna sleep..."

The little wolf looked down at his extended belly; his shirt had already slipped up, exposing most of the pale skin. He raised a hand and gently caressed his belly. "I know it...h-hasn't been easy...on you too..." he said gently. "Maybe we can both sleep for a while...would you like that?"

Mario half-expected the baby to kick in protest, but there was no obvious movement. Maybe it wanted to rest, as well.

"Okay..." he said, a small smile forming on his face as he started to walk. "Okay, we'll sleep for a little while."

Because the rain was still dripping down, Mario walked until he reached the end of the Field and arrived at the border of the forest. There was a tall, leafy tree that blocked out most of the droplets standing at the end. The little wolf went there and eased himself down, careful not to slip and fall. He let out a shaky sigh as he finally sat down at the base of the tree, his back leaning against the trunk. Ohh...that felt better.

He closed his eyes, listening to the soft patter of rain dripping down the leaves and the plants slightly ahead. It felt...somewhat peaceful now. As if...the world was finally slowing down and taking a break.

Mario exhaled slowly, letting his tiredness catch up to him. The sounds of the rain soon faded away, and he slipped into a blissful unconsciousness.

It felt far too soon when Mario was stirred from his slumber to the sound of soft, wet footsteps crunching down on the grass. He didn't open his eyes just yet, as his mind was still too foggy to process what he had heard. He tiredly raised his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes before opening them.

Blood.

Mario suddenly let out a frightened scream as the sight of blood surrounded his eyes. He instantly tried to scoot away, but since he was sitting down, it was fruitless. "Aaaahhhh! No, no, no! Stop!" he shouted, his heart instantly starting to race again.

Mr. L didn't bother to try and stop him anymore. He merely sighed and held up his hands to signify peace. "Please let me just talk to you, Mario," he said solemnly. "I can't do this any more. All this...running and freaking out...I can't. I just want to talk. Please..."

Mario was still breathing heavily, but he managed to calm himself down enough to not run away. There was no sign of trust in his eyes; too much had happened for that.

Mr. L made a sort of movement that indicated that he wanted to point, but was too tired to do so. He just moved his arms slightly. "Can I...can I sit there?" he asked quietly.

It seemed like an eternity of silence, but soon the little wolf nodded mutely. Then he looked away.

Mr. L sighed, then shuffled forward to sit besides Mario. The blood on his face had congealed, but the blood on his clothes had yet to fully dry. Neither of them looked at each other.

It was quiet for a seemingly long time. The only sounds were the droplets of water still coming down from the grey sky.

Mario was the first to look over at the black-clad figure. He nervously cleared his throat. "Wh-Why do you wanna talk?" he whispered.

Mr. L looked over, but he avoided eye contact. He was wringing his gloved hands together, the soft leather crinkling. "I...um," he started quietly. "I-I never got a chance to actually t-talk to you...about what happened that night." His voice cracked a little.

Mario felt his face go hot, but he didn't say anything.

"I... don't have an explanation, Mario. I don't deserve to be sitting next to you, because wh-what I did...was unforgivable. I got drunk when I wasn't supposed to, a-and I should have n-never entered the room you were sleeping in; hell, I-I should have just taken you home! I should have never touched you! A-And now..." his voice was rising, but it was cracking, "Now you're pregnant! Oh, God!"

Mario felt an involuntary gasp escape his lips when Mr. L started sobbing and shaking. "I-I'm so sorry, Mario! I'm so s-sorry! Fuck, th-this is all my fault!"