[PART 2: ENDING PART]<\/p>\n
I blinked at him, completely frozen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy fault?\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel, how can your smell possibly be my fault?\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor turned away, coughing into his fist, but I could still see his shoulders shaking.<\/p>\n
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face like he wanted the floor to open and swallow him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember that expensive herbal soap you bought online?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one that said it removes toxins?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he said miserably.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd remember how you told me it was natural, powerful, and good for men\u2019s health?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel\u2026 what did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor finally stepped in, still fighting a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour husband has been using it in a very\u2026 enthusiastic way.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought if a little was good, then a lot would be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much were you using?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree times?\u201d I almost shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor two weeks?\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor cleared his throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd not only that. He also applied the herbal cream that came with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth fell open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no cream in the box.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel slowly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small jar with a gold label.<\/p>\n
I grabbed it from his hand and read the words.<\/p>\n
It was not body cream.<\/p>\n
It was a strong garlic foot balm meant for cracked heels.<\/p>\n
For a full second, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Then the doctor lost the battle and laughed.<\/p>\n
I covered my mouth, horrified and relieved at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel,\u201d I whispered, \u201cyou put foot balm there?\u201d<\/p>\n
His face turned even redder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe label said deep repair!\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know whether to laugh, cry, or apologize to every chair he had sat on for the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
The doctor explained that nothing serious was wrong, but Daniel needed to stop using random products on sensitive skin and wash with plain soap until the smell faded.<\/p>\n
On the way home, neither of us spoke for ten minutes.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel muttered, \u201cIn my defense, you said it was a miracle product.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant for your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared out the window and whispered, \u201cWell\u2026 part of me believed in miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was when I finally burst out laughing so hard I had to pull over.<\/p>\n
Daniel laughed too, covering his face like a guilty schoolboy.<\/p>\n
By the next week, the awful smell was gone, and so was his confidence in online health products.<\/p>\n
Now every time I buy anything labeled \u201cnatural,\u201d Daniel reads the instructions three times, then hands it to me and says, \u201cPlease confirm which body part this is for.\u201d<\/p>\n
And honestly, after what happened, I think that is the healthiest habit in our marriage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[PART 2: ENDING PART] I blinked at him, completely frozen. \u201cMy fault?\u201d I repeated. \u201cDaniel, how can your smell possibly be my fault?\u201d The doctor turned away, coughing into his … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-inspiration","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18161,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160\/revisions\/18161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}