Welcome to Serenity

Birds Without Regrets

Annie's POV:
I'm telling Dad all about how hard Mum, Aunt Helen and Aunt Maddie have been working on the spa, as a doctor knocks on the door.

"Come in." Dad calls out.

"Hello again, Annie. You wouldn't remember me, I was one of the doctors that assessed your injuries when you arrived at the hospital last night. How are you feeling?" She asks kindly as Dad sits back in his seat.

"My leg is pretty itchy." I laugh as I look down at my cast.

"Yeah. It might get a little itchy." She smiles as she walks over to me.

"Anything else?" The doctor asks.

"My shoulders a little sore, and I feel really tired." I reply, exausted.

"I'll check your shoulder in a second, but all I can recommend for feeling tired is lots of rest. You've been in a car accident and went through surgury. Your body has been and is under enormous stress and needs rest." She says, as I smile, happy with the idea of sleeping in for the next couple weeks.

The doctor spends the next fifteen minutes making sure I feel alright, then her and Dad help me into a wheelchair.

Since I'm not allowed to use crutches yet, they wheel me down the halls to Kyle's room.

"Kyle!" I whisper as I see him. I'm not completely sure why I start crying but I do.

"Thank God you're okay!" I yell as I stretch to hug him, while out of the corner of my eye I see Dad leaving the room.

Kyle's got a big bruise on the side of his head and a heap of scratches, but he instantly starts smiling when he sees me.

"Hey Annie." He whispers. "I wonder if we're still grounded." When I laugh my stomach hurts heaps, but I ignore the pain.

"Are you okay?" He asks, surveying my injuries.

"I'm great, I'm with you. Mum's been fussing over me, I kinda miss her yelling at me." I joke smiling.

"Annie, we were in a car crash, we could have died!" He says, seriously, his smile fading away.

"But we didn't." I reply, as my smile disappears.

"We could have, Annie." He says, tears starting to swell up in my eyes.

"Annie, we could have died. We were in a car accident." He says tears rolling down his face. I really don't want to think about what would have happened if we did.

"If we died, would you have any regrets?" Kyle asks. Hell yeah! I almost say.

"Who wouldn't?" I ask, thinking about what those regrets would me.

I would regret I never showed my Mum how much I loved her, never telling Aunt Helen and Maddie how much they mean to me, and not telling my Dad how much I've missed him.

I'd also regret not telling Ty I like him.

* * *

I spend the rest of the morning with Kyle, talking. We talk about the car crash, we talk about school, how annoying Cece is, troll hunters, my nightmares and the things we'd miss if we did die.

"- and the milkshakes at Whartons." I laugh.

"Yeah! The milkshakes there are so good!" Kyle exclaims as Katie runs through the door with Ty trailing behind her.

"Kyle!" She yells as she sees him lying on the bed, with all his scraps and bruises.

"Katie!" Kyle yells back as Katie runs up to him. He hugs her tight against one side of his chest, being careful of his broken rib.

I nod to Ty and he grabs the handles of my wheelchair and he pushes me out of the room.

* * *

We laugh as he pushes the wheelchair hard and let's go. The wheelchair races down the hall. I'm laughing hysterically, even though it's hurting my stomach.

"Okay! Okay! That's enough." I squeal in between laughs.

"Okay, your majesty." Ty agrees as he grabs my wheelchair and pushes me slowly over to a window. Outside the window, trees surround the car park, almost like a wall of protection.

I wish I had my camera with me.

Ty pulls up a chair next to my wheelchair and we watch a group of birds fly around in the sky.

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

"Why are you sorry?" Ty asks confused.

"About the night at my house. I'm sorry, I didn't want to listen and hear what you were saying. I wasn't angry at you, more at myself. But, that's no excuse for taking it out on you." I say turning to look at him.

"You didn't mean for what happened to happen." I continue.

"You don't need to apologise." He says shaking his head.

"Anyway, I'm sorry." I say as I hear Mum, Maddie and Helen walking down the hallway.

"Tyler and Annabelle, we've been looking for you!" Mum hisses from down the hall.

"We've been hear. Watching the birds." Ty says looking back at the birds flying free in the open air, no regrets.

"Watching the birds without regrets." I whisper to myself, like I'm some poet.

"Come on Annie, you need some more rest." Mum says as she wheels me away from the window.

My smile doesn't fade, as I think of the birds flying freely in the sky. And I forget about the pain, the fear and the regret in life, and I think about the joy of sitting next to Ty and feeling like everything was completely normal, if only just for a moment.

************************************
Hi, I really wanted to end this on a nice note.

I hope you've been enjoying reading this as I've enjoyed writing it.

If you have any theories about what you think will happen in season 2 of Sweet Magnolias, please share them with me.

And if you have any ideas on what should happen next in Welcome to Serenity, I'm open to suggestions. Have a nice day!