She nodded. “If I fall in love with a boy, a man, can I have sex?”

Ah, now she understood why Noelle had been desperate to not have her father in here. She was sixteen. Lila was surprised this hadn’t come up. “Have you tried?”

“Having sex with a boy? No. My dad pretty much watches me twenty-four-seven, and when he’s not someone else is. And it’s not like there’s a boy I would want to do that with. I don’t know yet. I’m asking because I might want to someday, but what if I can’t? There’s this guy in my physical therapy group. He asked me out. I said no, of course. It’s too soon. I’m not looking to have sex with him.” She struggled for words.

Lila understood, and she was a woman who planned ahead. “But you want to know if it’s possible for the future because you don’t want to get into something that can’t possibly work.”

She nodded. “I know that sounds dumb.”

“That is the smartest thing I’ve heard all day. The short answer is you can absolutely have sex, but depending on what’s going on down there, you might have to make some adjustments. How do you feel when you masturbate?”

She went still.

“Sweetie, have you ever masturbated?”

“I’ve tried.” Noelle had gone a bright pink, but she soldiered on. “It’s hard for me to touch it. It. I mean my clitoris. I can’t arch my hips. I can move side to side, but not up. And my arms are freakishly short. It’s hard. I feel warm down there sometimes.”

“That’s normal when you see something that arouses you. Or you think about it. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Noelle. This is a normal part of life. Sex and intimacy are a necessary part of the human experience. It’s good that you have those feelings, because they’re normal.”

“But I’m not normal. What if I can feel arousal, but not all the other parts? I don’t have a lot of friends here. My best friend doesn’t know much more about it than I do. Her dad is the pastor and her mom said she wouldn’t talk to her about it until she’s ready to get married. I would talk to the other girls my age, but it’s embarrassing that I don’t know much. I had my period before the accident, and I think Dad thought Mom had covered the sex stuff. She did. I know how it works, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. Or what to do because I can’t quite touch myself to see if . . . you know.”