I did not know how long I was unconscious. I only knew that I woke up in my bedroom to the sounds of Jenny sobbing. She stopped when she saw that I had awoken and asked me if I felt any pain. I shook my head and pressed my hand against my chest. My heart hurt so badly that I could not breathe.
My head was also throbbing with pain. I must have hit it too hard when I fell to the ground. My entire body felt uncomfortable. Just then, I opened my mouth to say something, but instead, I coughed out a mouthful of blood. When Jenny saw that, she screamed and threw herself at the telephone to call the doctor.
I blinked a few times. Something was wrong. Was I hallucinating? I could actually see Jenny crying into the phone. I could see her tears falling, and her choked-up expression.
I shook my head lightly, but I could still see the scene in front of me. Although my vision was blurry, I could still see! My eyes widened in surprise, and I looked at Jenny incredulously.
The doctor came by to check on me. He said that I had coughed up blood because there was a blood clot in my body and coughing up the blood was actually good for me.
My mind wandered as I kept staring at the scene around me in a stunned daze. While the doctor was listening to my heartbeat, I suddenly grabbed his hand and said excitedly, “Doctor, I can see with my eyes! You are holding a stethoscope in your hand, right?”
“Ms. Tanner, you…” Jenny squeezed my hand and asked eagerly, “What am I wearing right now, and what kind of hair clip do I have in my hair?”
I smiled and replied, “You’re wearing a blue jacket with a white shirt underneath, and your hair clip… they look like red cherries. There are two cherries, right? My vision is quite blurry at the moment.”
Upon that, Jenny’s hands began quivering in excitement. She undid the hair clip and handed it to me, “Look, Ms. Tanner, you’re absolutely right. You can see again!”
After that, I was brought to the hospital again. In that small hospital, I was put through a series of careful tests. When the test results came out, the doctor was even happier than I was.
“Ms. Tanner, your visual impairment was caused by a blood clot in your brain that was pressing against your optic nerve. Now that the blood clot is beginning to dissolve, your vision will soon recover as well. Congratulations!”
“Are you saying that I can see again soon?” I gently touched the corner of my eyes. My vision had plunged into darkness again after being able to see for a short period of time earlier.
“Of course, as long as you take care of yourself well,” The doctor replied and prescribed me several medications. “Stop all other medications and just take these herbs. After you finish these, your vision should be completely back to normal.”
“Stop taking my other medicines?” I frowned.
“Doctor, Ms. Tanner can’t stop her other medications. Her illness…”
“Jenny, let’s listen to the doctor’s advice.” I did not want to take the cancer medication anymore. They made me feel worse than I already did. Since I only had a few months left in this world, I wanted to bask in all its glory.
Eventually, I would become nothing but dust, but I did not want to slowly fade away into the darkness.
The doctor was an old TCM practitioner who prescribed weird medications. He crushed some herbs and added the mucus from a certain type of locally-caught fish. This concoction was to be applied to my eyes. He also told me to change the dressing every day and avoid looking at anything that would hurt my eyes.
The fish mucus emitted an unpleasant smell. My entire body was covered in its stench, and it made me very uncomfortable. Once I exited the hospital, the pedestrians quickly crossed the road to avoid me. Right then, a small school-aged kid ran up to me and asked curiously, “Miss, did you just eat a lot of garlic? Why is there garlic paste on your eyes? Are you feeding them? Can my eyes eat garlic as well?”
When I heard his question, my lips twitched in amusement. I ruffled his hair and smiled, “This is not garlic. But anyway, I hope your eyes won’t ever have to eat garlic.”
