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Chapter 15. Michael?

I completely freeze at the sound of those words! It can't be! It's like I've either travelled back in time, or I am experiencing some kind of a sick deja vu, of the worst day of my entire life. Those were the exact same words Michael had also said that day, while knocking on that hotel door, right before he barged in by breaking it, standing there, staring at me like a wild animal looking at it's prey.
"Claire, I know you are in there. Open this door. Please! If you don't answer me I am going to have to break it."
I hear him calling for someone, but I can't move. I am petrified and honestly I don't really know where I am anymore, or who is behind that door.
"Open this door immediately, my friend is in danger. She is hurt and maybe something happened to her. She is not answering her phone." He shouts, but I don't know to who he is shouting at. And in a state of paranoia, I think to myself, is this Michael, is he back?
"Sorry sir, I have to call security first. Please give me a minute. I will be back right away." I hear a woman's voice.
"A minute? She might not have a minute, she is a sick person." I hear him say.
And by the time he finished saying those words I hear him kicking on the door. Oh my God. What should I do. He is here again. He found me! Michael is alive!
He broke the lock with the third kick and I momentarily see Michael and a foreign woman holding his arm in an effort to pull him out of my room, while calling for help. I am unable to speak or move and I see him pushing her away and slowly stepping towards me.
"Claire...Are you ok?" He says while reaching his hand for me.
"You are not Michael. You can't be Michael. You are dead." and I keep repeating that over and over again, curled up in fetal position, placed in the farthest corner of my room, with my eyes shut and my head between my legs.

Alexander's p.o.v.
I am terrified from Claire's actions and appearance. Her eyes are now wide open and she looks like she's seen a ghost. I have no idea of what has happened to her because she isn't responding. She doesn't look at me when I call her and even more, she doesn't seem to be reacting to anything I say or do.
I literally don't know what to do, so I do the first thing that comes to my mind which is to pick her up and hold her in my arms, very slowly and softly at first, but she fights me and repeatedly slaps me on the chest. I keep calling her name constantly reminding her of who I am, since she kept calling me Michael and when she finally stops fighting me, I throw my arms tight around her and hold her in a strong embrace. She then again hides her head in my chest, like she did that other time when I was picking her up for lunch, only now she looked much worse. She looked completely insane and lost.
I gently put my hand over her head and stroke her hair like someone would do, to a crying baby and at that exact moment she yelled out a scream and started crying, but she didn't pull away from me. I think that my touch relieved her and her yelling was a positive reaction to whatever it is that she was suffering from. The only thing separating our bodies were her hands that were balled up between our chests.
The girl from the hotel staff was back with a security guard, but they didn't do anything to pull me away from her. Obviously when they saw that I had calmed her down, and she would willingly stay in my arms, they realized I wasn't the enemy here. They only asked Claire if she was ok and they both left the room when she nodded yes.
"Claire, please look at me" I decided to say after 10 minutes of us standing there with her in my arms, perfectly still, saying nothing at all. One could only hear the sound of our breathing, that was now calmed down, as well as our heartbeats. Mine was too fast. I couldn't stop my heart from pounding like that, as I softly stroked her back with the tips of my fingers, barely touching her. I knew she could hear it, but I couldn't have cared less of what she would assume of it. Hell, I didn't even know what to assume of it!
I slowly lift her face up with my forefinger and I saw her eyes coming back to this room, finally looking at mine. I cannot explain it, but facing at that blank look in her eyes, only a few minutes ago, it sure felt like she wasn't really there and her eyes were looking at something or someone else.
"What happened?" I asked, and she took a step back. Then, she turned on the bed and sat down looking like her feet couldn't hold her weight any longer.
"Who is Michael?" Before I even finished saying the name her eyes were once again wide open in fear. "Ok, relax you don't have to answer. I didn't mean to be indiscreet." I softly say raising both my palms up in surrender mode.
I am standing there and she is perfectly still, only looking at me. She is trying hard not to cry, but tears are silently flowing down from her eyes, as if they have a mind of their own.
"Did I do something wrong? Please tell me. I was so worried about you. I was thinking that you are still only recovering from a head trauma and I knew you are here all alone, with no one to help you if you needed it. Your phone was off and I called you, like a hundred times at your room's phone which you also never answered, so I knew something was wrong. I was looking for you for the past 8 hours and I couldn't reach you. The hotel reception said you didn't leave your room, so please excuse me for barging in here like that, but I was afraid that something bad happened to you and you needed help. Please stop me from babbling and say something, I am talking non stop and you haven't said a word."
She opens her mouth but she can only whisper. Her voice is not coming out and she is making a big effort to speak. She sounds ill. Or maybe it's that big scream she let out a little while ago, that pierced my ears along with my heart. There was so much pain and desperation bottled up in that horrifying sound.
"I am ok now. I will explain everything to you, when I am feeling better." She manages to say in the lowest voice possible.
"Are you feeling poorly? Should I take you to the doctor?"
"No, I 'll be fine. I just need to rest."
She lays back on her bed and I cover her with the comforter.
At this point I become extremely nervous as I realize that it's only 3 hours away from tonight's dinner with my dad. I am sure he won't take any excuses and this, whatever this is that she is going through, can turn this meeting into a bigger disaster than the last one. My father does not give second chances and he feels very intensely against them, considering them a waste of time. I only have a second chance because I am his son, not because he believed my story, not even for a minute.
"Claire, tonight's dinner is in three hours. You think you'll be up for that?"
She is not responding, and I see that her eyes are already closed. She must be exhausted. I move closer to her and I examine her face, as if I could maybe figure out what happened by only looking at her more carefully. She smelled so good and fresh, like she just had a shower, something that I didn't notice before, when she was in my arms. My mind was too busy making assumptions, that only added to my confusion and ignorance on the matter.
I wish I could read her mind right now. I watch her, while she sleeps so calmly and I am still very troubled for what I experienced a few moments ago. What on earth happened to her? I move even closer and my face is now inches from hers. I admire her beautiful full lips and tiny nose. I greedily take in every detail of her face. She is so beautiful! I did notice it before, but now that I look at her features from up close, taking my time doing so, she looks like a work of art.
I shake the thoughts away from my head and I frown at them. What the fuck is wrong with me, why am I still sitting here feeling an invincible pull towards this woman? I have been so busy with her and all the shit that's going on right now, that I wasn't doing anything else. It must be the lack of sex that's messing with my thoughts.
I sit on the floor right next to her, sighing in despair and feeling defeated. I wasn't that much of an ass to wake her up and also I couldn't leave her here all alone after she basically collapsed. I step outside to the room's balcony, to smoke a cigarette in an attempt to cool down and gather my thoughts. I think I don't have any other option than to wait for her to wake up. I have to call my father and inform him of the situation, although it's the last thing I want to do. I can only imagine the irony in his voice and all the things he will throw at me to express his annoyance and disbelief. But...there is no getting around this.