JR walked up to the stand, imaginary Marissa's voice still ringing in his ears.

McCoy rubbed his hands in anticipation. They had rehearsed this next line of questioning over and over. He just hoped after JR's earlier outburst he would have the sense to alter some of the parts describing his conflict with Marissa. The aim was to prove JR crazy enough to be acquitted of the assault while at the same time avoid getting him sectioned and sent to a secure facility.

"Mr Chandler, please can you tell me the first moment that you felt there was a problem with your mental health." asked McCoy after JR was sworn in.

"It began shortly after the mansion shooting." explained JR. "I was waiting at the hospital for news of Marissa. I heard that she was in a coma and then suddenly there she was beside me like a ghost, talking to me. Still in her party dress."

"What was she saying to you?"

"That she was my guilty conscious. And it was true, I felt so bad about the accidental shooting. I know that Marissa and I were not on good terms at that point but that didn't make it any less traumatic, the thought that I could be responsible for her injury…"

"So this phantom Marissa appeared to you at the hospital. Why didn't you seek help as soon as you began hallucinating?"

"I was embarrassed. I'm a Chandler, I was raised not to admit weakness."

"But this vision stayed with you."

"Yes. She followed me home. She stayed with me ever since that moment."

"Is she here now?"

"No. Now she's gone. Ever since I talked to Dr Stanhope she has disappeared. It was like admitting the problem helped me exorcise my demons. I should have spoken to someone sooner."

"Liar!" hissed Marissa knowing she was still very much a presence in JR's head.

"Now you said this imaginary Marissa was speaking to you. What was she telling you?"

"She persuaded me that I had another chance with Marissa. I knew even with her amnesia that she had chosen Bianca and I should move on, but the Marissa in my head managed to persuade me we still had a chance. I shouldn't have listened to her. It only made it harder to bear when Marissa went back to Bianca. After that it only got worse…"

"You made it worse."

"Please explain." prompted McCoy.

"I couldn't shut out the voices so I started drinking only that just made everything more unpredictable. Sometimes I could hear voices come out of my mouth and it wasn't me speaking the words. Imaginary Marissa was blaming me that the real Marissa was going back to Bianca. Then one day, it's like she was having a massive temper tantrum, only she was using my body to do it. Throwing things and shouting, and all the while I was trapped inside, not able to stop her. That is what AJ walked in on. I couldn't stop her scaring my son. "

"And then AJ ran away from home." said McCoy in an understanding tone.

"Yes, she had chased him away. That is when the figure of my father appeared. A dark shadowy figure from a nightmare that stayed with me when I awoke. He was the one who began to persuade me that Bianca was to blame. That Bianca had kidnapped my son to punish me, just like she stole Marissa from me. The crazy part was that it just seemed so convincing I believed it – I hated Bianca so much. That dark presence was the voice that took me over that night. That is the voice that made me go to the Miranda Centre exhibition to spy on Bianca and Marissa. That is the voice that made me drink so much I couldn't think straight. That is the voice that told me that Bianca had to be punished. The shadow took over my body. I could see what he was doing but I couldn't stop it… all I knew were the voices telling me… hurt her… kill her!"

JR's face looked distraught as he talked through his actions that night. He was a good actor. Then he got a faraway look as if a new thought had struck him.

"But somehow I did stop it." he said. "I stopped myself. I took my hands away from Bianca's neck even as the shadow controlling my body tried to choke the life from her. I ran away to try and get as far from the voices as possible, as far away from Bianca... Only the voices caught up with me when I hid at the Martin's and I lost control of my body once more. I was not myself. I had no control. It was terrifying. I know I need help. Just talking to the doctor has helped. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Thank you JR." said McCoy smugly, that had gone even better than they had rehearsed.

"That is the biggest load of horse-crap I've ever heard." sighed imaginary Marissa shaking her head in despair.

…