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Chapter 53. Dilemma

I wake up feeling fully energetic and I look at Claire, who is peacefully sleeping in my arms. I still can't believe that I have her here with me, as I honestly thought I lost her, purely out of despair. I thought of the worst case scenarios and that almost drove me crazy, but it never crossed my mind that her worst nightmare would come alive, so all I want now is to make all of this go away for ever. I wake her up with a kiss, because we have to go back to the police station soon and I call my dad to tell him to meet us there.
Today is not a day for me to be neither proud nor egoistic, as I would do whatever it takes to help the woman I loved. My father was a very powerful man and he knew a lot of people in all the right places, so if he could influence anyone to help us lock Michael up for the longest time possible, it would be more than welcome and I wasn't ashamed to ask this from him.
Now Claire has her own personal army to defend her and nothing could go wrong. She was surprisingly strong and determined to face this, so that she could finally get over and done with it and eventually be able to move on.
Our day at the police station was long and tiring, but our job was done. Suzanne was very happy with how things were going and especially with Claire's mom, who testified online explaining the facts and confirming everything Claire said. Then the detective comes out of the room and asks Suzanne for another witness from England, as my mother wasn't considered reliable enough, due to our relation. Of course Suzanne had already anticipated that and warned us.
"Claire, who else do you think could confirm Michael's London assault and prove he is dangerous?" Suzanne asks her.
She hesitates for a while, but then she says the name 'Oliver'. Who is he? She never mentioned his name before but she sounded sure of her choice, although she seemed sad when she said his name.
"Great! Call him." She asks her.
"I need some privacy, as this is not as simple as it sounds." She hesitates.
In the meantime, my father was talking with a lot of people and managed to give us another 24h of Michael's containment which was a big relief for all of us. Then Claire goes outside and sits in the car, looking exhausted.

Claire's p.o.v.
"Oliver?"
"Claire?"
"Yes, hi."
"Oh my God! I can't believe you called me but I so glad you did. Claire we have to talk. There is so many things I want to tell you about what happened back then, but it's not going to be easy. I am so sorry for everything. I didn't think he was actually a lunatic! How could he do that to you?"
"I already know everything. How could you say those things to him, Oliver? It drove him crazy. What were you thinking?"
"I don't know, he was sitting on top of me punching my face and telling me to back off and leave you alone. Back off from what? You made things clear with me years ago and I told him that we were only friends, but he kept on beating me up. I flipped him over and I started punching him back and I told him that I wasn't afraid of him and that this was for you to decide not him. I mean we were only friends for Christ sake, what was the problem with that? Then he kept on telling me he would kill me and hurt my family and that's when I lost it. I wanted to make him suffer, so I told him the first idiotic thing that came to my mind, that I knew would hurt him more than my punch. I never in a million years thought he would hurt you physically, as I knew he worshiped you, but he was so sickly jealous that he actually believed me."
"You shouldn't have said that anyway, there is no excuse for such a lie and it makes you no better than him. And by the way, where were you all this time? Why didn't you have the guts to confront me and tell me the truth? You knew I was suffering from depression, didn't it cross your tiny mind that maybe the truth could set me free? It was driving me crazy not to know what caused such an eruption from him and now I know it was you Oliver, YOU caused that!" I yell.
"You are right and I deserve your contempt, but please tell me if there is anything I can do to make things right. Did he call you? Who told you he was alive? It's that snake you thought was a friend of yours Eve, wasn't it? She was updating him for everything concerning you, as she was secretly in love with him. There are so many things I have to tell you Claire, but I was too ashamed to contact you. I am so sorry for being such a wuss."
"No, he actually came here, trying to make excuses and apologize."
"No! He didn't."
"Oh, but I assure you he did. And yes, there is something you can do for me."
"I'll do anything. I promise you!" He says eagerly.
"I need you to speak to the police."
"About what?"
"About the truth Oliver. They will be asking you some questions and all I want from you is to tell them the truth."
"Sure, I'll be glad to put that monster in jail for good. What took you so long? To press charges I mean."
" I thought he was bloody dead, remember? Besides even if I knew he was alive I still wouldn't be able to. I couldn't even speak, as you very well know. I don't know if I will press charges for his assault back in London, but I know I want to get a restraining order and never see him again."
"I'll take the next available flight and be there by tomorrow. Claire, I've missed you so much! I've dialed your number like a hundred times, but I never managed to press that green icon and actually make the call. I do love you and there wasn't a day I didn't wish to take it all back."
"You don't need to fly here in person, as you could do this over the internet. But yes, I would like to talk about everything, as I have so many gaps to fill and I know I will be even more surprised for the things you will tell me, as you've already dropped a bomb on me about Eve, but now is not the time. I'll be flying there when all this is over, to write the epilogue to my London life's book and wrap up all my unfinished business, as I am never coming back there."
"As long as you are happy, you should do as you wish. I am so sorry that I wasn't good enough for you, then maybe you wouldn't have never met Michael and maybe be happy with me."
"Love has nothing to do with being good enough Oliver. It's all about chemistry and you were my high school sweetheart but that's all it was. Take the blame for the things you actually did me wrong and leave the rest to the past."
I go back to the building and I see a very worried Alexander talking with an extremely puzzled Suzanne.
"...They also announced that Michael confessed everything and had only disagreed to the point that you followed him unwilling, as he said you showed no signs of displeasure and all he wanted to do was apologize and explain his side of the story, but the moment you asked him to let you go, he did." Suzanne explains.
"What does this mean?"
"That we don't have a case Claire, not if you don't press charges for the London assault."
The problem with that is that I actually know he believes this, as I would always come back to him after his apologies. But couldn't he see that this was different to every other time we argued and that I was literally in shock? Was he that irrational to believe he had a chance to win my forgiveness after abusing me and killing a life inside of me? A real human being, this tiny person that even carried half HIS dna. That wasn't just another quarrel about the length of my skirt, or talking to a guy that was assumingely looking at me the wrong way, he broke my heart and killed our unborn child. I have to talk to him and I am not afraid to do so.
"I need to talk to Michael alone."
"What? No fucking way!" Alexander shouts.
"But I do. I want to decide if I am going to press charges for what happened back in England, as that would surely destroy him. He was so drunk and delusional I am not sure it's jail he deserves. What he does need is psychiatric help and all I want is never to see him again. He was temporarily paranoid, so I wouldn't feel good with my conscience to put him behind bars."
"Claire, wake up! It's one thing to be kind and another to be a victim. That scum deserves to pay for what he did to you, so please don't tell me you forgot what you've been through, because he doesn't deserve your kindness." He says looking disappointed.
"I will never forget what he did to me, nor will I ever forgive him, but I don't hate him and I don't want to destroy his life out of vengeance."
"It's not vengeance Claire, it's justice. Insane or not he needs to pay for his mistakes, so he doesn't do it again."
I walk towards the detective and I ask him if it's possible to speak with Michael alone.
"Claire, no!" Alexander begs.
I ignore him and I explain to the detective exactly why I need to speak to him. He already knows the whole story and he strongly advises me against it, expressing the same opinion as Alexander. But I am a psychiatrist and I know better. "He was mentally unstable and unaware of what he was doing. He still is! I want to talk to him." I insist.