Learning to Swim

Alternate Ending

Hey, everyone! I know it's been awhile, but the original ending of this story has bothered me for awhile now and so I finally decided to write an alternate one. So for all the people that weren't happy with the last one, this ones for you :) It starts right after Liam was stabbed and Dakota is waking up in the hospital.

Alt. Ending

When I was seven I was obsessed with birds. It was a strange fascination, but I couldn’t help being completely intrigued by every little thing they did. I remember that I used to go out back and lay on the grass, watching the birds come and go as they pleased. I would watch them for hours. It was my way of escaping everything else for just a little while.

I wanted more than anything to be a bird myself. I had been so jealous that they could fly away whenever they wanted, leaving anything and everything behind. Getting away is the only thing I’d ever wanted. What life would be like if I had wings was a concept that haunted me. Because I was grounded and eventually I was forced to realize that dreaming of anything else was just stupid. I was stuck where I was at and there was no changing that.

For some reason this is the first thing thought running through my head as I regain consciousness in a stark white hospital room. The memory of what happened tonight has yet to come back to me, maybe because I don’t want to remember. Because that would make it real and I don’t want it to be real. So instead I think of birds. Of watching them fly and wishing I could do the same. If I could fly now then I would leave all this behind. There would be no pain of knowing the truth. I would never have to look back.

Then Liam’s face flashes through my mind and I know that this isn’t true. I wouldn’t leave it all behind. Not anymore. Not when I have something to stay for. After accepting this the memories come flooding back. My instinct is to fight against them, but I know that I need to remember if only for Liam.

I cry out when the memory of Dane stabbing Liam comes back to me. It almost feels like a dream. I mean, something so terrible couldn’t have actually happened, right? I know it did, though, and I don’t have any clue what has happened to Liam since. In a panic to find him I try sitting up only to be pushed back down by a nurse I didn‘t even notice was there.

“Stop squirming, dear. You hurt your head pretty badly and moving around isn’t going to help you much,” she advises me and I continue to struggle against her.

“Liam!” I call out frantically.

“The boy you were with?” the woman asks, a look of sympathy flashing through her eyes. That look scares me more than anything.

“Is he okay? Do you know…,” I trail off. I stop fighting against her now that I realize she could tell me what I need to know.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what his condition is at this time,” she replies and my eyes fill with tears. He has to be okay, he just has to.

“Can you find out? Please?” I beg.

“Just try to relax for now. I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything out,” she says.

The nurse messes with the monitor beside me before leaving me alone. The silence forces me to be face my thoughts, which is plain torture. The look on Liam’s face right before Dane stabbed him won’t fade from my mind. The pain I feel is unbearable and has nothing to do with my injuries and everything to do with Liam. The nurse told me to relax, but that definitely isn’t going to happen without knowing how Liam is. I just have to know if he’s okay or not. That’s the only thing that even matters.

So, instead of lying there in that bed waiting for someone to come tell me news about Liam, I decide to go and find out for myself. Sitting up causes my head to spin, but I grit my teeth and push the pain away. Then I remove the wires connecting me to the machines and slip out of the room before any nurses or doctors see. They will find out soon enough, but hopefully I’ll have found Liam by then.