Unfortunately, her tail would have to be amputated as a result of her injuries, making her a permenant resident of the aquarium. Throughout the following month the boy would make his way to the aquarium/hospital to check up on her and see how she was faring after all of this.

At some point Winter had began to use what remained of her tail to swim using motions somewhat akin to a fish. While this enabled her a little bit more mobility, it would cause major issues with her spine that would kill her if something was not done, prompting the first attempt at making a prosthetic tail for her.

She would reject the tail initially, which unknowingly to the everyone for a time was because it was uncomfortably rubbing against her skin causing irritation somewhat akin to a seatbelt rubbing against your neck.

After the source of this issue was found, a special gel (That continues to be used today with a vast majority of prosthetics) and the final prototype was developed which Winter had no issues with.

During the events of this, the aquarium was working on hosting an event dubbed "Save Winter Day" in order to raise funds for both Winter and the Aquarium, as they were already in some financial trouble.

The event comes around with a special show involving the star herself, and it ends up becoming a big success, with the real estate developer agreeing to continue to financially support the aquarium.

A new chapter, one of Hope:

3 years following the events of the first film, another young dolphin is found stranded on the beach, severely sunburnt. She would become Winters Companion

Around the time that the movie was taking place, Winter had begun to show signs of stress and loneliness as well as some instances of agression and irritation, especially following the passing of her older companion "Panama".

This prompts a USDA inspector to insist that a new companion be found for Her, or else she would half to be relocated to a new site.

A new rescue by the name of Mandy enters the facility with everyone hoping she will be a suitable partner for Winter, however she shows great signs of recovery, so she is released back into the wild.

Soon after, Hope had been found and brought to the facility, and they're given an extension to the timeframe before a transfer must be made to a new location in Texas.
An attempt is made to introduce Hope to Winter, but she begins to panic and swim around their tank quickly, resulting in the two being separated for a time while everyone speculates that the lack of a tail has cause some issues. So the prosthetic tail is retrieved and another attempt is made at bringing the two together once the tail is put on.
This time, they finally accept each other, and Winter no longer needs to moved over to Texas