“What are you doing?”
“Shaving.”
“In the shower? With your eyes closed?”
“Why not?”
“You look ridiculous doing that,” she said.
“On the other hand,” he said, leering at her nakedness, “you look great. Why don’t you step into my office and we can fool around a little?”
“There’s not room for the both of us in there,” she said.
“That would depend on how close we stood,” he said.
“Hurry up, Peter,” she said, and closed the door.
She wiped the condensation from the mirror and bent forward to examine her face closely. She looked into the reflection of her eyes. She felt a sense of sadness, and wondered why.
Peter came out of the shower.
“I left it running,” he said, as he reached for a towel.
Louise gave in to the impulse and wrapped her arms around him, resting her face on his back.
“The offer to fool around is still open,” Peter said.
“What’s this?” she asked, tracing what looked like a dimple on his back.
“Nothing,” he said.
“What is it, Peter?” she demanded.
“It’s what they call an entrance wound,” he said.
“You were shot?” she asked, letting him go, and then turning him around so she could look into his face.
“Years ago,” he said.
“You’re not old enough for it to be ‘years ago,’ “ she said. “Tell me!”
“Not much to tell,” he said. “I was working the Ninth District as a patrolman, and a lady called the cops and said her husband was drunk and violent and beating her and the kids up; and when I got there, he was, so I put the cuffs on him, and as I was putting him in the backseat of the car, she shot me.”
“Why?”
“She wanted the cops to make her husband stop beating up on her,” Peter said, “but arresting the love of her life and father of her children was something else.”
“She could have killed you,” Louise said.
“I think that’s what she had in mind,” Peter said.
“Did you shoot her?” Louise asked.
“I don’t even remember getting shot ... I remember what felt like somebody whacking me with a baseball bat, and the next thing I know, I’m being wheeled into a hospital emergency room.”
“How long were you in the hospital?”
“About two weeks.”