““All three of us had a good cry just before my dad came back to the room. Leave it to Dad to change the subject. “Noah, you need to take a shower. It’s been about a week. You need to be bathing, son,” he said without at all noticing that the timing might not have been the best. I had gone through a lot of surgeries. I had a lot of scars. Just having water touch my skin hurt badly. So, no, I wasn’t showering very often. But come on, did he have to say that right in front of Seth and, more important, Tracy? I was trying so hard to impress her. I tried to nip the conversation in the bud as quickly as possible. “Gotcha, Dad! Okay!” I said. I looked at Dad with an expression that suggested he drop it. Thankfully Tracy didn’t seem to flinch.””
