There are only a few moments in your life in which you remember the events,
the surroundings perfectly. You can still see the brightness of the light
outside, the slight breeze in the air. You remember exactly what you were
wearing, every minute detail including the ketchup stain on your shirt. You
remember the seconds leading up to it, and then the absolutely horrifying
details of what came next.
One event in Sam's life made such an impact on her life. The death of her husband, Tom. If it wasn't bad enough that these memories haunted her throughout the day and most of her sleepless nights, but those few times when she got those precious moments of sleep, the experience haunted her dreams.
She had been sitting at work that day, going over a case about a killer in the northeast, one who hunted single women who all had a similar type job. She was looking over the gruesome photographs of the crime scenes when a phone ring jarred her out of her thoughts. She wasn't told much, other then to return to her home immediately. The lack of detail in this call was the most frightening to her, and she rushed home, pulling into the driveway with a reckless intensity. The lights of the police cars swished around the house, creating a kaleidoscope design of red and blue. She jumped out of the car and started half-running up to the house. Her heart pounded in her ears and as she was running, she saw one police car without its lights on. It was the car that had been watching her house, protecting her family. She looked in and saw the shattered glass and the blood.
She knew then.
She knew Jack had gotten inside. She knew then that his jealousies had taken over and Tom was dead.
Still she ran inside, past the officers and the agents and the crime scene photographer. She ignored the yells to stop and the yells not to disturb the crime scene.
The second she saw him, she broke. Her mind stopped working and she just felt this agonizing pain. She dropped to her knees and pulled him to her. She didn't notice that his blood was getting on her, and even if she did, she didn't care. She broke down sobbing. She vaguely heard a voice telling her that Chloe was okay. Sam knew Chloe was okay even before then. Jack wouldn't go after Chloe because of the fact that if Chloe was gone, then Sam would be gone forever. Sam wouldn't have anything to live for. But with Tom … she still had a child to take care of.
But at that moment, all she thought of was Tom.
She knew what a knife felt like then. Felt a little something like the pain that was tearing through her right now.
She was broken, her innocence gone. A perfect life extinguished by a cruel force. And then she only felt pain.
The weeks went by slowly. Tom's funeral came and went and she resigned from the FBI. Life was darker. Her best friend from childhood came and helped and soon they moved to her farmhouse where they lived in anonymity.
Still, the guilt was eating her alive. If only she had stayed home that day like she almost did because Chloe had a stomach. Or maybe came home a little earlier, so she could arrange for a babysitter so she and Tom could go out to dinner. Or maybe ….
The guilt was killing her. She had turned into an insomniac. Weeks past and nothing changed.
Angel had built Chloe a little playground outside, and as she came off the slide, she fell and skinned her knee. Chloe came in crying, with a slightly bleeding knee. At first she saw the blood and then Tom's blood, but she heard a sniffle from Chloe and finally saw for the first time since Tom's death, a little light. A little light shining from this young girl and Sam saw her reason to go on, to stop feeling guilty. She cleaned Chloe's knee up and she went back outside to play.
Sam smiled. All she had needed was a little light.
One event in Sam's life made such an impact on her life. The death of her husband, Tom. If it wasn't bad enough that these memories haunted her throughout the day and most of her sleepless nights, but those few times when she got those precious moments of sleep, the experience haunted her dreams.
She had been sitting at work that day, going over a case about a killer in the northeast, one who hunted single women who all had a similar type job. She was looking over the gruesome photographs of the crime scenes when a phone ring jarred her out of her thoughts. She wasn't told much, other then to return to her home immediately. The lack of detail in this call was the most frightening to her, and she rushed home, pulling into the driveway with a reckless intensity. The lights of the police cars swished around the house, creating a kaleidoscope design of red and blue. She jumped out of the car and started half-running up to the house. Her heart pounded in her ears and as she was running, she saw one police car without its lights on. It was the car that had been watching her house, protecting her family. She looked in and saw the shattered glass and the blood.
She knew then.
She knew Jack had gotten inside. She knew then that his jealousies had taken over and Tom was dead.
Still she ran inside, past the officers and the agents and the crime scene photographer. She ignored the yells to stop and the yells not to disturb the crime scene.
The second she saw him, she broke. Her mind stopped working and she just felt this agonizing pain. She dropped to her knees and pulled him to her. She didn't notice that his blood was getting on her, and even if she did, she didn't care. She broke down sobbing. She vaguely heard a voice telling her that Chloe was okay. Sam knew Chloe was okay even before then. Jack wouldn't go after Chloe because of the fact that if Chloe was gone, then Sam would be gone forever. Sam wouldn't have anything to live for. But with Tom … she still had a child to take care of.
But at that moment, all she thought of was Tom.
She knew what a knife felt like then. Felt a little something like the pain that was tearing through her right now.
She was broken, her innocence gone. A perfect life extinguished by a cruel force. And then she only felt pain.
The weeks went by slowly. Tom's funeral came and went and she resigned from the FBI. Life was darker. Her best friend from childhood came and helped and soon they moved to her farmhouse where they lived in anonymity.
Still, the guilt was eating her alive. If only she had stayed home that day like she almost did because Chloe had a stomach. Or maybe came home a little earlier, so she could arrange for a babysitter so she and Tom could go out to dinner. Or maybe ….
The guilt was killing her. She had turned into an insomniac. Weeks past and nothing changed.
Angel had built Chloe a little playground outside, and as she came off the slide, she fell and skinned her knee. Chloe came in crying, with a slightly bleeding knee. At first she saw the blood and then Tom's blood, but she heard a sniffle from Chloe and finally saw for the first time since Tom's death, a little light. A little light shining from this young girl and Sam saw her reason to go on, to stop feeling guilty. She cleaned Chloe's knee up and she went back outside to play.
Sam smiled. All she had needed was a little light.