Chris chased Clara outside the surgery, managing to catch up with her, grab her by the sleeve of her jacket and pull her back to him. "You've got to come back in, right now."

"And you're going to make me, are you?" She taunted. "How are you going to do that exactly? Drag me or carry me kicking and screaming?"

"Either way," he replied firmly, "you decide."

She pushed him away from her. "Well that's not really the way you should be talking to me for a start."

"Clara," he protested dimly, "I don't wanna fight anymore. I just want you to go along with what the doctor is saying."

"He wants to send me away."

"'Cause I can't help you, that's why." He came closer to her. "What you've got is something I can't stop and it's something you can't stop either. The place where you'll go will help you, but by refusing to go you're not helping yourself."

"I don't wanna go."

"I know you don't," Chris took hold of her wrists, "but by going, you'll be doing the right thing."

"What, for you or for them?" Clara pulled herself away from him again and quickly disappeared out of sight.

He knew he couldn't keep pursuing her in that sort of way any longer and he had to go back inside.
He weakly sat back down where he was before and the doctor came over to him.

"I've just called the unit and they're happy to take her…where is she?"

He shook his head dimly. "She found out."

"You told her?"

"She found out for herself. She put two and two together somehow." He looked to him sadly. "She ran off."

He nodded slowly. "The unit have reserved a bed for her for up to twenty-four hours, so you have to get her up there within that time. If not, you'll have to take her back here and the waiting list could be very long by then." He made to go back to his room. "I'll have to call the unit again and ask them to cancel the taxi that was going to come here, but you have to find her. There's no telling what she'll do in her condition."

Chris couldn't find Clara at all by the time he got back outside. There was no way of knowing which way she would've gone and he couldn't find himself driving down every single street he could think of to find her.
He decided to carry on to work and try to get hold of her by calling her. For all he knew, she could well be trying to cool off.

"Clara, wherever you are…please call me back. I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to, but I want you to either call me back, go straight home or come and see me at work…ok?" He disconnected the call as Harry slowly came in. He placed his mobile not too far away from him on his desk. "Take a seat."

Harry took in the older male's appearance, noticing he looked slightly weighed down and sleepy. "You don't look so good, Sir."

He said nothing to his remark, and gave him back his paper with crosses all the way through it. "You wanna explain to me what happened there?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I still haven't been a hundred per cent."

"You weren't a hundred per cent in the paper, Harry, that's for sure." He leant further forward, inadvertently revealing two faint dark circles under his eyes. "I want you to do well. This isn't your usual standard."

"This isn't my strong point, I suppose."

"Well, no…" Chris cast his gaze onto a spot on his desk. "Sixty or seventy per cent I'm used to seeing from you, but not zero."

He drew in a small sigh. "I didn't really get myself ready for the paper the previous night."

"You mean things at home have still been a bit rough?" He wanted to cut him some slack. After all, things haven't been going brilliant between him and Clara and he figured they were both in the same boat. "You wanna do this one again then, in that case?"

Harry perked up a little. "Really? You'll let me do it again?"

"Sure." He gave him a blank paper. "As long as I have it back soon so I can go through it."

He thankfully took it from him and left the room.

It was turning into quite a cold night.
Chris was on his way back to the car when Karen's voice from behind stopped him.

"Not starting to become a hermit, are you?" She noted teasingly, coming up to him.

"Oh. No…" He got his keys out. "Just been so busy lately."

She tilted her head in concern at his less than usual perky self. "Harry said you looked tired when he came to see you."

"He told you that?"

She nodded slowly. "I know we work together, but we are a couple as well, aren't we?"

"It's something I can't tell you." He decided that rather than lie about his and Clara's relationship any longer, he would directly tell her that it was as private as he could make it out to be. "I'm sorry, Karen."

"No, that's fine. There are only so many things couples talk to each other about, and what's concerning you is something you wish to keep to yourself." She agreed. "But if you want to tell me, you know that all you have to do is say."

He managed a small smile. "Sure."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed him there comfortingly. "See you in the morning."

As soon as he got back into the flat, Chris was met with complete darkness. He felt slightly weighed down at the feeling of being alone again. He presumed he was alone as none of the main lights were on.
He heavily sat down on the sofa, trying to work out what his next move should be.

Clara didn't have much time left till her bed was given to someone else and it was imperative to him that she got to the unit when the doctor instructed her to.
He knew he could do no more at his end as he'd already called her mobile and left her a message for her to get back. But what if she didn't get that message? What if something happened to her?

He snapped to. What could possibly have happened to her? She was old enough to fend for herself, however much he wanted to protect her on his own, and he knew that in all honesty she would be fine and she would come back to him when she felt good and ready. He then assumed it didn't matter if she'd forgone her bed at the unit, as he'd be able to control her for as long as he could.

He could only assume that she had well and truly gone and left him on his own, like she said she would do. Well, if that were the case, he'd better start stripping her bed and ensuring she'd taken everything with her…

What he was met with when he came into her room was her slender form lying in amongst the blankets. She couldn't be…no.

Going over to the bed, he softly swept her long, dark hair away from her face, allowing it to scatter across the blankets gracefully in waves.
He wasn't sure when she got to the flat or why, but he could only be thankful that she came back.

He stayed up for some time, deciding to sit down on the sofa with her bedroom door open as she slept.

It wasn't for some time that she stirred in amongst the blankets, and when she did her eyelashes fluttered gracefully like butterfly's wings beating through air. It was a pretty sight.

Leaning over her waking body, he tenderly swept a hand over her forehead.

"Dad…" She hazily mumbled, opening her eyes and peering up at him.

"Hey, sweetheart." He whispered softly.

Clara automatically threw her arms around Chris after sitting up in bed. Her action prompted him to come over slightly bemused, but he happily took her into a warm hug. "I thought you were someone else."

He inched closer to her, so that they could feel each other's warmth. He wanted to hear more. "Someone else like who?"

"Him."

He frowned at the fright in her voice and he slid a hand down her back, pressing her against him in order to stop her from feeling so frightened. He didn't want to throw question after question at her, deciding instead to let her talk in her own time.

"I would sometimes see him in my room at night," she started shakily, "he would perch on my chair by the bed when I'd be trying to sleep and just…I don't know. Watch me."

He frowned more at what she'd said.

"H-he didn't know I could see him, but I knew he was there. I could make out his larger shadow even though it was dark. I heard the chair squeak when he moved, so he had to have been there…"

He didn't really know what to feel at that time. He waited to hear more from her, but he realised he wasn't going to get any more if he pressed her.

Clara closed her eyes as he stroked her down her back. She felt the tears come. "D-dad…I didn't mean to hurt you. I love you…"

"I know you do…it's ok now." Chris felt slightly angry. He knew that he had to let it come and that he had to accept it. He didn't let go of her, giving her the impression that he held onto her even tighter.

"H-he would beat me too. Sometimes h-he would beat me so hard…"

He softly closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He felt slightly ill.

"I used to look in the mirror the day after to see the bruises and I would then try to cover them up…I didn't mean for it to happen, I promise you I didn't." She looked to him, tears shimmering in her eyes.

He said nothing for some time, choosing to keep his gaze to the blankets behind her and not look at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. To his own daughter…how could anyone…do that?

"Are you angry with me?" She couldn't feel completely at ease with the anxiety he was clearly exuding.

"I'm not angry with you." He felt her relax into him from the touch. "I wanna promise you one thing."

She nodded slowly. "Ok…"

"Whatever he did to you, it does not make me love you any less." He reassured her. It only prompted him all the more to want to look after her. "And I don't feel that taking you to a secure unit will help you."

She rested her head in the curve between his neck and shoulder. "You don't?"

"No." He felt her body's shivering ease against him. "The staff there won't know how badly you feel about the whole thing. They'll treat you, sure, but you won't get the same sort of help I can give you."

Clara nuzzled her nose in Chris's t-shirt, taking in that familiarly musky yet soothing scent. "I've never wanted to go to the unit," she admitted, "I've always wanted you to look after me."

"You know I would take care of you." He pulled himself away from her and helped her to lie back down in bed. "You feel that you can sleep a little bit better now?"

She felt warm and fuzzy inside as he cupped her face softly. She took hold of his wrist, caressing it at its joint. "Can you stay with me for a while?"

He smiled playfully. "I'm sure I can manage that."

It wasn't long before she felt nicely relaxed and sleepy. She drifted off into a deep sleep in amongst the blankets and he tenderly pulled them up over her slender body. "Sleep well, my love." He planted a soft kiss on her forehead as he pushed her dark hair back. "You'll feel better in the morning."