《 Skip a Beat 》

Just like waking up

"So," Theseus started. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, resisting the urge to crumple into an emotional mess on the floor. He felt tears stinging his eyes, but blinked them away. "No talking, no moving."

"I don't think he'll be needing to do either of those. We'll do all the talking for the next half an hour, judging by all the questions you guys have," chipped in Queenie.

Newt grinned. His friends were all okay. They were all fine. Nobody was hurt.

"Nobody was hurt? Nobody was hurt? Newt, have you looked down? Grindelwald literally ripped your leg in half! That's why we're here!" argued Queenie, shaking her head. Newt's eyes widened. He glanced down, his face unreadable, then back up.

"Exactly."

Speaking of which... where are we?

He couldn't speak, but he knew Queenie would be reading his mind. Having a legilimens as a close friend could be extremely beneficial at times, though it had its disadvantages too.

"Oh, you were rushed to hospital, honey!" clarified Queenie. "Well, we couldn't leave you bleeding out on the floor, now could we?" she protested against Newt's look.

The memory slowly faded back into his mind... Grindelwald snapping his leg, Tina saving him... Tina!

He shifted his gaze to her; she was standing closest to him, right by his side, and there were silent tears escaping down her cheeks as she gazed back at him, unsaid words passing between them.

Newt wanted more than anything to reach out and wipe her tears away. He almost trembled with the effort of staying still. He'd probably missed out on a fair chunk of his life, and his creatures-

No! What about my creatures? Are they okay? Has anyone been feeding them?

"Newt, honey! It's fine! Tina and Theseus have been taking great care of your creatures. They're fine. They're at home."

He breathed a sigh of relief, then flashed a grateful look toward his brother and Tina. They grinned back. He scanned everyone else in the room, checking that everyone was okay, that no one was missing or... worse.

"You gave us a right good scare there, buddy. We thought you were dead!" piped up Jacob, stepping forward.

"Everyone in the emergency department thought you would never make it!" added Leta.

Newt ran his eyes across everyone in the room again.

Everyone is here? Why?

"Yeah, of course we're all here! We all sat through the operation too," Queenie answered his unspoken questions.

Operation? Newt looked down again. His right leg had stitches running down the side, and now that he was paying attention, he could feel a strange, tingling sensation inside his leg... like a tiny electric wire running through his bone. Fragments of memory flashed through his mind, his leg a mauled bloody mess... he looked down again. It still looked macabre, no doubt, but how in Merlin's name had they managed to fix it?

"Yeah. The scariest seven hours of my life," chimed in Jacob.

Newt's head snapped up, sending fire blazing through his head. He must've hit it pretty hard when he fell. To come to think of it, he could feel a slightly tight sensation around his head, sort of like a halo, but... different. He wiped the thought from his mind.

Seven hours?

"Yeah, Newt. Seven hours. It was broken pretty bad."

He turned his head to the side and looked out the window, trying to process everything. His companions waited patiently, waiting for a response of some sort. After about a minute, he looked straight at Queenie. Another moment passed, and she folded her arms across her chest and scowled at him.

"Whaddya mean we really didn't have to do this? Of course we did! What do you think we're going to do? Oh, you're dying? That's nice. Bye! Really, Newt!"

Everyone dissolved into laughter. It was good to have him back.

"You had visitors every day! Uhh- not that you could tell, but..." stated Jacob awkwardly.

Theseus must have thought this was a good topic of conversation, because he added something. "Tina came every day," he said, smirking.

Tina, who'd been silent the whole time, started blushing fiercely. Newt raised his eyebrows.

"Yep." Theseus let the awkwardness soak in.

"Well Theseus came every second day," retorted Tina. Unfortunately for her, he'd had his argument planned out already, and quipped a response back within a couple seconds.

"That's different. I'm his brother."

For the first time in a while, Tina didn't have a snappy comeback. She shuffled uncomfortably on her feet, trying and failing to fight the blush creeping up her neck. Newt gave her a weak smile, then turned back to Queenie.

Thank you.

And this time, they didn't need a legilimens to see that he meant it.

And... yes! I know! He's alive!

Yaaaayyy! *victory dance*

BUT! There are still more operations to come, and Newt is probably never going to walk again ;-; AND!! There will be some drama... and fluffy moments, so stay tuned!

Right now, I'm on school holidays, and I'm at a beach somewhere in Queensland (I'm not going to write exactly which one in case you try to stalk me >:0) but I will say it looks JUST. LIKE. RIO.

AND THE THIRD MOVIE IS SET IN RIO AND LITERALLY ALL I CAN SEE IS THE BEAUTIFUL BEACH AND WAVES SPARKLING UNDER THE SUN AND PALM TREES AND SURFER BOIIS and I'm thinking

Is this what the third movie vibes are going to be like? iS NeWt gOinG tO tRy To sUrF??? WILL THERE BE AT LEAST A COUPLE SCENES WITH A BEACH IN THEM?!?!?!

THERE HAS TO BE, RIGHT?

hhk better enjoy da holiday before i leave ;-;

Have a nice day!