When he came home she took the week off, and except for his trips to the clinic, their time was their own. He could not turn his head and the bandage extended from his temple to his neck, but he did not want to stay home. On the fourth night a family in a restaurant recognized him and would not stop staring.

“Do you want to leave?” Karen asked him.

“No, I’m all right. I—maybe Krolevich didn’t believe me when I told him I saw something in there.”

“What? How long have you been thinking this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t believe me. I had only met him that night and I didn’t even like him. Maybe he felt that. When he told me to go around the side I even thought for a moment that he was taking the easy part for himself. Why did he expose himself? Why didn’t he get a shot off? What the hell was he thinking? I’ve been wondering if he didn’t panic, like the other two.”

“Did you panic?”

“No. At least, I thought I had my wits about me. I didn’t shoot until I saw that the man in the door was going to shoot me. It happened so quickly that he did get the first shot. Then I shot to kill. I could have aimed low, but I was afraid for myself. He would have killed me. The other one, too. I had to stop them both. I would have to do it again exactly the same way.” He stopped. “Well, what do you think of me?”

“The same things I thought before. This is a side of you I saw a long time ago. I know that you’re thinking of it for the first time. It keeps you away from me.”

“And?”

“I’m unhappy. You aren’t the same anymore. I’m not crying. I’m waiting for you to learn to live with it.”

“I’m still wondering how Krolevich threw his life away. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

At home she had things to do. He turned on the radio. It would be a week before he could return to work. He could still feel the responses of his body to what had happened. He was not an unusual man. He had not wanted Karen’s mothering until he had been frightened. She had said that he wasn’t the same. He wasn’t a thoughtful person, he knew, and he would let his mind lose its hold on what he had seen and done. That itself was curious and terrifying.

Karen brought him a cup of coffee. He made room for her to sit beside him.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Better. I’ll be all right.”

“Are you comfortable?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?”