I'm sooooooo sorry of exactly how long this has taken, but I've written the last chapter to post after this so it won't be too long this time I promise, again, my apologies xxx

Chapter 3

My name is Annie Tyler. Something happened and I woke up here in 2006. Am I mad? Am I dreaming? Or have I really travelled in time? Maybe I've been given a fresh start to live here, to find a new home in Sam's town.

It took me time, but eventually I got it, I learned to live in the 21st century. I read the history books; I mastered all of the new technology and became a woman of the times. It sickened me to know that nothing had changed, it had only got worse, twin towers, global warming, Iraq...the list went on and on.

I'd always thought of myself as a modern girl, able to easily adapt to change but those first months got the better of me. Often I found myself alone and crying, I'd never drank much, but I drank now, in those hours of need as though the burning alcohol would somehow burn away the emptiness. I was wrong, it was no better here than it was there. I still could not see the man I loved. He was Maya's here. He was dead there.

What was this for? I wondered often. Why was I here? Was this punishment? Was this a chance? Was this...what?

I only had one friend here, another DS and I had a sneaking suspicion that his interest in me was mainly in his trousers, however it made me feel better knowing that I had someone to talk to even if he doesn't understand.

"Annie? Annie?" Daniel asked.

"Sorry, away wi' the fairies" I smiled, we were eating lunch, but it wasn't a date. I'd made that clear.

"What's on your mind?"

"Jus' well...home"

"Where is home Annie? The accent is Manchester, right?"

"Yeah, it's not so much 'ome Dan, it's what I lost"

"Which was?" Dan asked a lot of questions, but he'd offered a lot of himself in the past months, I'd not even told him I'd been married.

"My husband."

"I'm so sorry...messy divorce?"

"No. He died. He was a copper too; we worked together, in...London. It was during a chase. He was my hero"

"I'm so sorry. You never said"

"No-one asked"

We ate in silence after that. That was the day that I first decided to go to the hospital. I decided to see him.

I said my goodbyes to Dan, who of course offered me a ride home; I refused telling him that I had places that I needed to go.

I only began to panic as I reached the hospital steps, could I do this? I didn't even know which ward he was in. Would he even be there?

"Hello, I'm Annie Tyler and I was wondering which room Sam Tyler is in? I'm here to visit him" I nervously asked at the reception of the coma patient's ward.

"Are you any relation?" She replied

"You could say so."

"Follow me miss."

"Mrs" I corrected automatically.

He was on Hyde ward.

Hyde. I chuckled inwardly.

And then I saw him. I saw him. So young and so still.

"Sam." I rushed to his side. I held his hand. I kissed his forehead. "You're really here." The tears rolled down my cheeks. "You were always right, you were never mad"

I hadn't even noticed the woman in the corner of the room. She could only be Sam's mother. The woman I met all those years ago.

"I know you don't I, dear?" She asked.

"In another life maybe Mrs Tyler"

"I remember a red dress....what's your name?" Time had not been kind to the elder woman, who's once beautiful face showed all the lines of time.

"Annie, Annie...Cartwright." I used my maiden name; another Tyler would be a little too weird.

"I'm sorry dear, I have to go, look after my boy, Annie"

I knew that she was leaving for my benefit and would probably return to her son's beside the second I had left, however I was grateful for the time I was given.

Suddenly, it was clear. Clear as crystal.

"This is so I could say goodbye, isn't it?" I cried. "I know you never wake up. Sam, I love you, you knew that, you had seven years to know that. Just never forget it. Goodbye." I kissed his cheeks, and then brushed my lips across his. It was the last kiss we'd ever share, and he'd never even know it.

I left the hospital with a clear head, I would go to London, I would try to get on with my life. If I ever got back to my time I may even join the Guv.

Sam had been the most important person in my life, but my life was not over without him. Even if it felt like it was.

******

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