Blind gift

Blind

She knew something was wrong when she woke to darkness, she could hear voices from somewhere that seemed unnaturally loud to her sensitive ears, and the rough wool blanket felt like stone Against her skin. But the worst part was the pain, her head was pounding and she could hardly think with the intensity of it, what happened to her? Where was she?  She paused, thinking hard, she couldn't remember anything. Her heart sped up and her thoughts stumbled over each other trying to remember something, anything that might help her, nothing came but a name, "Taliana," was that her name? Her breath came in short gasps and she felt herself becoming light headed as the pain grew, grasping onto anything that would make her feel grounded she held fistfuls of wool blankets. Then the voices grew louder not helping with the pain in her head, the sound of a man giving orders and a woman speaking in a frantic voice did not help Her panic, but it did strike a cord, the woman's voice sounded familiar and comforting to her for some reason. "Calm down, love, it's alright," the woman spoke beside her, voice calmer now as she stroked her hair, "breath" the woman breathed in slowly to get her point across, Taliana slowly calmed down breathing in and out with the woman. "My head" she spoke quietly as she held her head in her hands, "here, I have something that can help" the man said from what sounded like the opposite side of the room, she heard footsteps come closer, they stopped maybe a foot or two away. "Here, open your mouth," Taliana did as he said cautiously, but the thing that touched her tongue was cold and sweet and as she swallowed whatever it was she felt the pain slowly disappear, "better?" The woman asked from beside her "yes, thank you, what was that?" She asked as she shifted slightly in the blankets "that was Orabax, it can help with headaches and such" the man answered, Taliana felt more at peace now that things had calmed down."Where am I?" She asked, "you are in my clinic" the man spoke, "you were out for quite a while, I was starting to worry" his voice was kind and the sound of it made her smile slightly, "who are you?" She questioned, "oh! How rude of me to not introduce myself, I am Alaric, lovely to meet you" he said, and she could feel him move to the spot on her right.
"she can't see" the woman whispered in a surprised voice, Taliana stared at the darkness in front of her, simply listening to their voices. "I was afraid of that, it's quite strange, she doesn't look blind" came the whispered reply, she felt the air before her move as if something was being waved in front of her face, "do you remember anything? You're name perhaps?" The man asked, "my name is Taliana, I think" she said simply, feeling her heart pound in her chest, there was a pause before the woman spoke, her voice sounding strained like she was holding back tears. "Yes, that is your name, do you know who I am? Do you recognize my voice?" The woman spoke slowly, sounding like she was going to cry. "Yes, I recognize you're voice, but I... don't know who you are" Taliana said with a frown, She heard the woman take a shaky breath before she spoke again, "I am your mother, Aria Bohr and you are my Daughter, Taliana Bohr" she spoke slowly, making sure Taliana understood, and she did, the woman's voice was comforting and familiar to her. Like she had heard it a million times, and she knew without a doubt that she was telling the truth.
Taliana nodded in understanding. "But what happened? Why can't I remember anything? Wh-"
"Woah calm down tali, one question at a time" her mother cut her off, a warm hand on her shoulder. "Ok" she sighed and moved her head to get closer to her mothers voice and asked her question "why can't I remember anything?"
Taliana heard as much as felt her mother take a deep breath, there was a long pause before she began.
"We were traveling to the city with a rather large caravan, it was on the Second day of our travel that we were ambushed by thieves, it was a terrible fight, nearly everyone was killed.
All we could do was run, we took two horses and ran as far as we could, but you didn't know how to ride very well so you" her mother stopped, taking a shaky breath before continuing "you fell and hit your head on a rock, I didn't know what to and there was so much blood. You wouldn't wake up, so I went to the nearest town as fast as I could. Thankfully I found Alaric and he was able to help you before it was too late."
There was silence as Taliana took the information in, "why were we going to the city?" She asked, wondering what reason they would have too leave their home, "you- your father" Her mother paused once more, the only sound was that of her breathing and Taliana's heartbeat in her ears as she waited for her mothers voice to continue. "He got very sick, the doctor said there was very little chance he would live, and nothing he could do would help," her voice was very small as she said that, and Taliana could hear the quiver in her voice, she's trying not to cry, she thought as she closed her eyes, still she could see nothing but darkness. "Dr. Alaric, will I ever be able to see again?" She moved her head up slightly as she asked this to the man at her right, "I can not say, there is a chance your sight may one day return, but nothing is certain." Taliana felt a stab of pain in her heart for her mother, but there was nothing she could do to help, she was blind, and there was no way to fix that. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she felt the Reality of it all, and suddenly, she felt her mother's arms around her as she shook from the force of her sobbing. "I'm... sorry mother" she wept, she hadn't realized she had started crying, "why are you apologizing?" Her mother asked as she gently rubbed her back "there is no reason to be sorry, never apologize for crying," Taliana felt her heart warm with the kind words her mother spoke.