The police arrived and asked a series of questions. Veronica and Peter explained what had happened to the best of their ability. It ended with Luis being taken to the hospital by ambulance to see if his skull was fractured and Veronica being told to call them again if there was ever any more trouble.

"I'm afraid to stay here alone," Veronica told Peter after the police had gone. "He's gonna be really angry when he gets released from the hospital."

"So come stay with me," Peter urged her. "You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the sofa."

"No." Veronica was determined. "I pay the rent on this place, and I'm not about to give it up to some bully."

Peter had to smile at her usage of the word 'bully', as that was exactly what she herself had been when they'd first met as junior high students.

"All right," he agreed. "I'll stay for a few days until the dust settles." He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at night in his own apartment wondering whether or not she was all right, anyway.

Sure enough, a few nights later, Peter was asleep on the sofa when the sound of the key turning in the lock awakened him. He dashed to hide behind the sofa but wasn't quite fast enough. All of a sudden, Luis burst into the apartment brandishing a knife. He grabbed Peter's arm as the smaller man tried to run away.

"I'm gonna cut your balls off, you little shrimp," he growled, pressing the knife against Peter's throat.

Suddenly the larger man slumped to the floor in agony. Peter turned to see Veronica standing in the hallway, a pistol in her hand. Calmly she tucked the gun in her waistband and approached Peter. "Are you all right?"

"I didn't even hear the shot," Peter said, bewildered.

"It has a silencer," Veronica told him. "I bought it right after you came to stay. I knew I'd need it soon."

"I'm sure glad you did!"

"So am I."

They had to call an ambulance again, of course. Both Peter and Veronica also had to go to the police station for questioning, but in the end it was decided that the shooting had been a case of self defense, so no charges would be filed.

'How'd you get mixed up with someone like that, anyway?" Peter asked Veronica once the ordeal was over.

"He was one of my patients," Veronica began. "He was so handsome and charming that he just swept me off my feet! In the beginning he treated me like a queen. He was always such a gentleman, holding doors open for me, things like that. I'd never been treated like that by a man before. Before Luis, guys always either resented me or saw me as pretty much just a buddy."

He saw the longing in her eyes and suddenly felt a peculiar tenderness.

"I was so in love that I didn't even notice when it started to change. Little things at first, moodiness and a lot of complaining and fault finding. I tried to rationalize it away, telling myself that he was just stressed out over not having a regular job and his ex-wife always bugging him for more money, but it just got worse and worse, and before I knew it, things were really bad, but I felt like I was stuck."

"It's your apartment. You could have just put him out."

"I tried. He refused to leave."

"Why didn't you get a restraining order?"

"It wouldn't have done any good. It would have just made him angry."

Peter took both her hands into his own and looked into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me all this before, Ronnie?" It was the first time he'd ever called her that.

"I didn't want to dump all my problems on you, Peter."

"But that's what friends are for."

"Well, we had kind of drifted apart, and..." She shrugged.

"I should have made more of an effort to stay in touch."

"It was as much my fault as it was yours, Peter."

"Well, it doesn't really matter now, I suppose." He chuckled lightly. "We're back in touch now. Let's never lose touch again, OK?"

She smiled for the first time that day. He smiled back and gently brushed the hair back from her face. "It's been a rough day. How about letting me take you out to dinner?"