A close friend got physically assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, and she called me to come help her immediately after he left. I was the only person who ever knew what happened that night.

It felt like we were on our way to becoming a couple before that, it was a slow but steady courtship. I went over that night thinking she needed help with something else, and when she opened the door, she was covered in bruises and had a huge bump on her head that we'd later find out was a severe concussion.

I did my best to take care of her and help her over the next while as she dealt with the medical repercussions, and tried to get her to press charges. But she wouldn't and I later found out she was secretly seeing her attacker. He'd come take care of her during her worst concussion symptoms, later they'd start hanging out again just as friends. Battered wife syndrome kind of thing I guess. She would acknowledge what he did to her was horrible and that he deserved jail time, then go out with him the next day and try to hide it from me. I confronted her about it once and she stopped talking to me for months. I was the only person who knew what happened to her and telling anyone else, like her family, would have broken her trust.

Whatever closeness we had melted away. We're still friends now, but there's always this wall between us. Not only is there a whole level of mistrust, but she's never been the same person since the concussion. She used to be really energetic and fun, and I've never seen that side of her since. She's become so cautious about everything. That asshole robbed us of a different future and was rewarded with her company for two years, while I sat around trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. He's out of the picture now, but you can't rewind that kind of a situation.