Under the drug's influence, Virginia recalls what happened on the evening of May 12th, when she ran away from Robert in Chicago: Aware that she has promised to attend a banquet with her hometown boyfriend Gordon, Virginia abandons Robert in a bar and dashes to her house outside the city. Worried that Virginia may be released from the over-crowded hospital before she is ready, Kik decides to use narcosynthesis to speed up her recovery. Later, after a successful visit with Virginia, Robert concludes that she is well enough to live with him on his mother's farm. During their first session, Kik asks Virginia about the significance of the date May 12th, but she has no apparent memory of it. Satisfied that he has made contact with her, Kik stops her shock treatments and begins psychoanalyzing her. After the fourth treatment, Virginia starts to come out of her daze and is startled to learn that she has been at Juniper Hill for five months. Back in Kik's office, Robert concludes his story and gives the doctor permission to use electric shock treatment on Virginia. A few days later, they are married, but their newlywed bliss soon ends when a sleep-deprived Virginia becomes paranoid and withdraws from Robert, crying out that she can never love anyone. When Robert suggests they wait until the end of the month, Virginia accuses him of not truly loving her. At first Virginia ignores Robert's proposals, but then, after seeing an announcement for a May 12th racing event, she abruptly proposes to him. Virginia never explains why she disappeared, but Robert gladly reunites with her and begins to talk about marriage. Robert accepts a job in New York, and six months later, he runs into Virginia at a concert. During one date in May, however, Virginia becomes panicked and bolts from Robert without explanation. Robert and Virginia take an immediate liking to each other and begin dating. Robert admits that Virginia spoke little about her family but recalls the first time they met: In Chicago, Robert, a publishing house clerk, encounters aspiring author Virginia when she comes to collect her rejected manuscript. Concerned about Virginia's condition, Mark Kik, her progressive, kindly doctor, questions Robert about her past. Although she knows that she is married, Virginia insists she has no husband and fails to recognize her husband Robert when he visits. Virginia Stuart Cunningham, a twenty-four-year-old patient at Juniper Hill State Hospital, suffers from extreme anxiety, confusion and delusion.
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