Ok! Here we go! A Heavy Rain fanfic! I really pray to God this turns out well! Review, if it pleases you. Just know... reviews tend to help me update sooner.
To get the full experience, listen to the song Medicine by Daughter. It's beautiful and is this story's theme song.
Five days after Shaun Mars was found by his father, barely alive, he was in the hospital. Norman Jayden visited Shaun and brought him candy every day. Madison read to him every night.
Shaun asked his father what happened to his finger. Ethan couldn't answer him.
He only left his son's side if it was absolutely necessary.
Five weeks after, Madison, Ethan and Shaun had moved into a new apartment. Shaun still went to his mother's house every weekend. He saw a therapist every other day.
Jayden had tied up the last loose ends of the Origami Killer case and gone back to D.C.
Each member of the tiny family of three had nightmares. It was a rare occurrence where one wouldn't wake up to another's screaming, crying, or pacing around night after night.
Five months after, they were getting better at pretending things were normal. It was an art form, really, and one they had almost mastered. Shaun still saw a therapist. Ethan, too. Madison could see the two crumbling in front of her. She couldn't understand- time was supposed to heal, wasn't it?
The publicity Jayden had received concerning his courageous, single-handed apprehension of Scott Shelby was dying down. His addiction was worsening. He had sent a standard Christmas card to the Mars family. He did not get one back.
Madison's nightmares had mostly vanished. Ethan's weren't as frequent. Shaun still had the dreams every night and would wake up screaming for Jason.
Now, five years later, no one seems to care. No journalists come knocking anymore. No one calls the house for quotes about the ordeal. The nation has moved on, the story has been forgotten by all but a few.
Those few are haunted by the memories.
Shaun Mars has tried to move on. Really, he has. He's listened to his shrink. He's tried to make friends. It isn't working.
A lot of the time, it feels like the sadness has become him. It has crawled inside of him. He is learning to live with it, but it is rotting him from the inside out.
And he still has the nightmares. Every. Single. Night.