Chapter Sixteen

I went into the bathroom first thing in the morning, along with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a cotton swab, and a new bandage and gauze. I spotted the wound on my lower leg after stripping away the previous bandage. When I went scavenging, I almost forgot I had this. When I looked down at my wound, I noticed it was a reddish-brown hue and gently swelled up whenever I touched it. The injury was mending, but I don't want to risk it becoming infected. So, I gently cleaned it, dried it, and applied a new bandage on it.

Then I changed for the day in the new clothes that Gigi had picked out for me beforehand, and I felt terrific. My clothing wasn't grubby, ripped, or drenched in blood for the first time in months. I feel like a whole different person when I wear them. It was weird to imagine that something as fundamental as new clothing might brighten one's happiness, yet they do.

Peter, Justine, Ricky, and Gigi were all seated at