Jane

So I am working on one of my next books, Jane, which I plan on releasing in spring/early summer 2015. Though, I am not entirely happy with the title, so it will probably change as I get further into her character and her story.

I am having a lot of fun writing about her. The excitement of learning new information through the abundance of research in different psychological disorders and their various treatments....just wow. Jane is a skitzophranic who suffers from multiple personality disorder, pyromania, and psychogenic amnesia. Right now she is being held hostage in a psychiatric facility after the police had her at the precinct questioning her about a burning house she was sitting in front of which they believed to have been her own. Turns out, it wasn't her house and two people died inside. They had nothing tying her to the crime, besides her presence of course, and as the detective was discussing her release, she had a psychiatric breakdown. Currently, she thinks she is just in the hospital. Maybe she should spend a little less time finding euphoria in staring at burning houses....
 
"...well, again, tell me your name and we will begin."

I had no idea what he was talking about. The very last thing I remembered was putting my head back on the pillow after nurse, whats-her-name, left the room after giving me some water. I truthfully did not want to play along with this man, but obviously he wasn't going to give me any further information until I cooperated. This was absolutely ridiculous.

"I am sure  you already know what I am called. You have my chart. My name is there." I looked up at the ceiling and breathed deeply, letting the air out slowly. 

"You have an interesting way of wording things. What you are called as opposed to whom you are called or simply, your name. Do you go by an alias then? The name on this chart is not your legal name? Is that a safe assumption?"

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want for you, miss, to tell me your name. The relevance of it existing in this chart does not matter. I need to hear it from you."

"Jane."

"Right you are. Jane, do you have a last name?"

"No. I go by Jane. Plain Jane."

"That's unusal. Generally people have three names, or at the very least, two. A first, and a last, and occasionally the third being a middle name. But I have met people who have dropped their middle names before. Am I to understand you dropped both; your middle and last?"

I sighed heavily. "Jesus. Stevens! Jane Stevens! Satisfied?" I shoved my head back against the hard pillow behind it. 
  
 "Quite. However, I am confused. Is it difficult for you to remember your name, Jane?" He asked as he lifted his clipboard and began to scribble again.

"No. I know who I am." I stared blankly at him.

"Then what is wrong with telling me your name?"

"Nothing. I just think it is ridiculous that you feel it necessary to ask a question for which the answer is staring up at you on the chart you are staring down at. You already know the answer so the question is absurd. Why should I answer you? I'm sure you were taught to read at some point during your many years of schooling for your doctorate. Were you not?"

"I suppose you're right. However, you need to get used to it. I will be asking you your name every time we meet. If you plan on keeping this up, you will be wasting a lot of time."

"My response will not change as long as your answer is written in front of you, so I guess we will be wasting quite a bit of time then." I looked up at the ceiling and tried crossing my bound arms again to no avail. Blasted handcuffs. I just want out of this stupid hospital bed. He then took a piece of paper out of the front cover of my chart and moved closer to my bed.

"Do you see this, and this?" He asked as he pointed to my name in two places on the page.

"Yes." I said skeptically. 

He then began tearing up the piece of paper and letting the pieces fall on my bed. "That was the only page in your chart with your full name on it."

I scoffed at him. "You have a back up. I am not stupid."

"No. I am afraid we don't operate that way here. That was the original and only. So there, I no longer have the answers to my questions written in front of me." 

I was at a loss for words. My mind went blank. I had no rebuttal. 

"See, I can be stubborn too. Don't test me." He looked pleased with himself. 

I can't wait to see what happens when Dr. Thatcher gets inside her head and begins treating her. ...Or will he just make matters worse? Back to writing I go!

~KD Hanes