I recently met a woman at the supermarket and we started seeing each other.

every second of the previous night. Her laugh. Her kiss on my forehead. The warmth I’d felt falling asleep. I went from Googling “chemical burn” to “STDs on face” to “skin-eating bacteria,” each result worse than the last. By the time I called the doctor, I was shaking, convinced my life had just split into “before” and “after.”

The diagnosis felt almost continue reading …