Chapter 17

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 the tiny, rectangular dining room table w