Shaun walked down a quiet pathway to get home; the flowers planted alongside the buildings were wilting and appeared to be a dull grey in the afternoon night. A truck drove past him and it brought with it a rush of cold air. It chilled Shaun to the bone even through his white jacket, but he bit back the feeling and continued on his way.
It was nearly 7pm, an hour after Shaun started his journey home when he arrived. The door opened for him and then closed behind him when he entered, his face was bathed in the brilliant fluorescent light, but he could not care less for the sight. Shaun slowly made his way to the room under the stairs where he slept and fell onto his bed. He struggled to remove his jacket but found it suddenly removed from his body. The lights in Shaun's room slowly faded and hid his gaunt face and balding head.
In the next morning, he awoke and found the jacket back on himself, he did not complain and walked out of his cell, the doors seemed to hiss open by themselves. However, it was the nurses who opened the doors for him, the same as the night before. Shaun could not perceive other people; he lived in a world of his own, free to move around the facility and the yard with the others, yet under constant supervision from the Doctors. He was restrained by a stark white straightjacket, only removed at night and placed back onto him before he awoke. It may be seen as inhumane but it really was the safest treatment for him. He was allowed to move around while the Doctors tried to puzzle out what was wrong with him. Sometimes the guards would call out to Shaun, sometimes he responded to sounds, but to him they had no source. The Doctors think he must have had some traumatic event before he was admitted.
Some of the nurses feel sorry for him and try to make his life as comfortable for him as possible. Shaun may not even notice their kindness but they continue tirelessly, some even following him around so that doors are open for him to pass through without waiting. Other nurses are not nice to Shaun, they play jokes on him, making noises to distract him all because he cannot stop them. After a long day of wandering around the yards, he comes back into the facility. The nurses sit him down and inject him with nutrients through an IV in his neck before sending him off to bed.
It is not a pleasant life, Shaun is unable to touch anything around him or taste the foods he used to enjoy, the Doctors hope that Shaun is content with what he has to live with, but they will never know what it feels like to be in Shaun's world, a world where he is truly alone.
