When Talia came around, she was hurting all over. Her body felt like it had gone twenty rounds with a professional boxer. Her throat hurt and breathing was difficult. She is forced to breathe through her nose.

She felt her hand being held and looked towards the person holding her hand. A smile appeared on her face, because it was her mother. She squeezes her mother’s hand to let her know she woke up.

Brenda feels her daughter squeeze her hand. She looks towards her daughter “it’s about time you woke up sweetie. How are you feeling?”

Talia swallows and finds it hard to do. In a raspy voice “like a punching bag.”

A smirk appears on Brenda’s face. She was glad that Talia woke up.

“What happened?” Talia was confused about how she got to the hospital. The last thing she remembered was everything getting dark, as her air was cut off.

“You don’t remember, sweetie?” Brenda looks at Talia with a concerned expression on her face.

Talia shakes her head but stops when she feels pain from doing it. The pain came from the muscles in her neck.

Brenda noticed the pain in Talia’s face “don’t move your neck, sweetie. The doctor said you sustained some damage to your neck muscles, your esophagus, and bruised larynx. So, you need to rest and be careful, baby.

In a raspy voice, “What happened to me?”

“Ralph heard your call for help and came in and tossed the man attacking you out your bedroom window. Unfortunately, he survived the fall but won’t be going any where fast.” Brenda had been told by the two detectives on the case that Talia’s attacker had survived the fall but broke his right arm and both his legs.

Her husband and Ralph wanted to go and do more to the man for attacking Talia, but he was being guard by a police officer. The attacker was secured to his bed by handcuffs. The bruised damage to Talia’s larynx was going to take a while to heal and the doctor said she shouldn’t talk for a while. She needs to let her larynx heal for a while.

A few days later, Talia was released from the hospital. The people she works for came and saw her while she was in the hospital. Mr. Garcia sent her a beautiful floral arrangement. She loved all the flowers and got well furries people sent.

When Talia arrived home, she was surprised her bedroom had been restored back to how she normally kept, but with a few minor chances. She hugs her parents and brothers. Her brothers were very supportive of her choices. Some of Talia’s friends from school had dropped in to check on her.

Once Talia settled in, her mother brought her some soup that would go down easily. It was still hard for Talia to swallow, but that was expected. Her doctor said her throat was doing good.

Talia saw that her father and mother bought her a new laptop. She had used her old laptop as a weapon. When she powered it on, she saw that
it was set up the same way as her old one. She wonders if her parents had taken it to a computer shop to transfer everything over from her old laptop drive to her new one.

Talia walks over to her make-up table and looks at her throat. The bruised encircling neck still looked nasty. The only way she was going to hide it, if she covered it with a scarf or turtleneck. She had other bruises covering her body. Between the rabies shots, and the bruises she got from being almost murdered. Her mother felt she should see a counselor.

A few days later, after returning home from the hospital, Talia is taken to her first counselor meeting. The person she is going to see is named Dr. Elizabeth Luna. Talia was nervous when she walked into Dr. Elizabeth’s reception room.

Talia checks in with the receptionist and sits down on one of the comfortable recliners in the reception area. She notices that the place was designed to make you comfortable while you wait. There were coloring books, and magazines to keep you occupied while you waited.

Talia picks one of the magazines up and starts flipping through it. It was Better Home and Gardens. It really didn’t interest Talia, but it was something to read.

After about ten minutes, Dr. Elizabeth appeared. She was a middle-aged woman with a nice figure and wearing glasses. Her hair was kept professional looking.

“Talia Miller?” Dr. Elizabeth looks towards the young woman sitting in her reception area.

Talia stands up and walks over to Dr. Elizabeth “I’m Talia Miller.”

A smile appears on Dr. Elizabeth Luna’s face. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Miller.”

“And you Mrs. Luna.”

“Please, call me Elizabeth.” As Elizabeth leads Talia down to her office.

“Okay, Elizabeth. But only if you call me Talia, please.”

“Deal.” Dr. Elizabeth leads Talia to a comfortable room.

The room looks like it was decorated to relax a person. Talia walks over and sits down on the sofa in the room. She watches as Elizabeth walks over and sits in a nice comfortable chair.

“Now, Talia. Tell me a little about yourself.” Elizabeth looks directly at Talia with a friendly look on her face.

Two hours later, Talia is picked up by her mother. Brenda notices that her daughter has been crying. She lets Talia sit quietly, because she knew Talia needs to rest her vocal cords. She reaches over and pats Talia’s hand, letting her know she was there.

Talia just watches as they head back towards the house. Her boss has given her two weeks of medical paid leave. Talia leans her head against the side of her mother’s SUV and listen to the music her mother loved.

They stop at KFC to pick up dinner and continue on towards the house.