Dream Lover

Flutist Kathy Gardner was raised in privilege in Washington, DC by her wealthy, domineering, widowed father, Ben Gardner. In one of her first acts of independence from her father, Kathy decides to join Kevin McCann's jazz combo for a long term club gig in New York City, the two who embark on a relationship, rather than follow Ben's plan of accompanying him on a extended trip to Japan. In New York, Kathy is physically assaulted in her apartment late one night by an intruder. While Kathy is already prone to vivid dreams, usually fantasies on something in her reality, those dreams change to nightmares, always of the events around the assault. Looking for some relief in no longer being able to sleep without the trauma of the nightmare, Kathy turns to many different professionals for help, including a sleep clinic. While the administration of the sleep clinic tells her that it is not a counseling service that can provide assistance to her, Dr. Michael Hansen, a low level researcher at the clinic who overhears her story, believes that he may be able to help her, despite his research to date only being on animal subjects. While Kathy does get some relief from Michael's treatment, she, in turn, begins to trust him implicitly as he gets further into his experimentation on her, which leads to a potentially deadly situation as Kathy's dreams/nightmares blur with reality, especially as it relates to one specific item associated with the assault.