While the burns were healing nicely, his acceptance of his altered appearance wasn’t going so well. He moped about his parents’ house like one of those zombies in Dawn of the Dead. That used to be one of his favorite movies, but he hadn’t even bothered to watch it when it came on TV the other night. The adoption plans for the little girl he’d saved from the fire was going well, thanks to powerful friends in Atlanta. But she worried he might be too distracted with his own problems to take on the role of fatherhood. “Maddy, do you think we need to talk Freddie into getting some therapy? The insurance would pay for it. But he doesn’t seem interested.” “He’ll work it out,” her mother-in-law responded. “Freddie always had a good head on his shoulders. That fire may have burned off his skin, but it didn’t reach the man inside.” “I hate seeing him like this. So despondent.”
