FLASHBACKS

As the shower pounded her, she looked down at the scars on the right side of her chest and suddenly, she was taken back in time and remembering something long forgotten as if it was occurring for the first time.

She stared into the eyes of the man in front of her. Instinctively, she knew this was her husband, but his eyes were that of a monster. He grabbed her and slapped her across the face before throwing her to the floor.

Almost as soon as she hit the floor, she heard him cock the gun, and knew she needed to lie perfectly still. Absently, she didn't remember him owning a gun. The shots were fired quickly, two in rapid succession. She felt the burn as one hit her upper chest, near her right shoulder, and the other hit her upper leg.

She rolled to her left side and lay perfectly still, closing her eyes, hoping he would assume she was already dead.

A small voice came from behind, a young boy, no more than six years old. 'Daddy, what are you doing?'

The man whirled on the boy, his eyes still glowing with rage and fired the gun instinctively. The shot did not miss its target and the boy fell, lifeless. The man screamed, realizing what he'd done and turned the gun on himself, firing.

The whole episode probably didn't last longer than two minutes, but she felt like an eternity was passing. She pulled herself across the floor to where her son's life blood continued to ooze out of his wound. Before she could reach for a phone to call for help, Sarah Jane Lofts passed out.

The icy water of the shower continued to pour around her, the hot water having long run out. It was hard to tell where the water stopped and the tears began. Suddenly, pieces came flooding back to her, everything snapping back into place.

She thought about the man she now called her husband that sat in the living room, and their teenage son.

Turning off the water, Sarah quickly towelled off and threw on a robe before walking downstairs to the living room where her husband sat in his favourite chair reading a book.

He looked up and smiled as she walked in, 'Did you have a good shower?' He saw the redness in her eyes and his smile quickly faded. 'Sarah, what's wrong?'

'John, I know what happened.'

John quickly jumped up as Sarah sank onto the nearby sofa and held her head in her hands. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, the slight Scottish lilt in his voice soothing her. 'Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry.'

'The pieces feel like they're still falling into place, although there are still huge gaps. I can't believe I had a son that was shot and killed right in front of me and I didn't remember him.'

'Sarah, it was so traumatic for you, your brain just blocked it out.'

She sat up, trying to put some distance between her and the memories. John released her from his embrace, but continued to hold her hand to watch her as she asked her questions. 'How long ago was that?'

'Eighteen years.'

'And we've been married just over sixteen years, and Luke just turned fifteen.'

John smiled, 'That's right.'

'I have another question.' Sarah turned to look at John, she looked down at their entwined fingers, then back up to look in his eyes. 'Doctor, why didn't I know you? In all this time I never heard your double heartbeat, and you seem to be warmer than before? Why don't I remember huge chunks of my past and why are you taking what you always called the "slow path"?'

The Doctor, having lived the last eighteen years as John Smith, laughed. 'Sarah, that's more than one question.'

'I used to be a journalist. And add this question to the list, where's the TARDIS?'

'A very good journalist at that.' The Doctor stood up and reached for Sarah to join him. 'Sarah, I think most of the answers you want are tied into your last question. Come on, the TARDIS is close by.'