POV issues?

I'll try to knock the details out of this and keep it as basic/simple as possible...

I'm having an issue with point of view in my WIP. Starting about a quarter of the way through, the action is essentially one long hallucination, interspersed with blips of reality presented as nightmares. It isn't obvious right away, but by the end of the story- well, hopefully, if I can keep my ducks scrubbed and in some sort of coherent order- it will be.

It occurred to me the other day that I shouldn't really be including scenes from other points of view. If the majority of it is a hallucination, the other characters would be supporting roles more than anything, and not exist in any substantial way outside of their direct interactions with the main character... clear as mud, right?

Any advice? I'd really like to continue as planned, with the primary characters getting their own scenes. It adds a little richness and, in the end, I'd like to be able to (once the main character starts to really suspect that something's brown in Cowtown) have them start reacting in ways that would raise more hurdles for the main character. Her suspicions would cause her subconscious to change the way the others act.

Thanks all! I don't post all that much, but I really enjoy this forum. You're all so helpful!

I'm sorry, I haven't read that book... So I'm not sure I understand you.

But yes, that's my point- that the other characters walk and talk only in the MC's imagination and so shouldn't be able to function outside of her direct presence. The MC takes a bad fall that nearly kills her and experiences recovery, rehab and overcoming the obstacles that come with those things- but begins to have nightmares in which she's back in the hospital and her situation is desperate. The "dreams" are just uncomfortable at first, but then they start to occur outside of sleep (and even predict versions of things that happen to her in her waking life). The three primary characters are her therapist (who diagnoses her with PTSD and remains involved throughout), her maybe-fiance and her best friend. All three are crucial to her recovery in their own ways, but as her dreams become more like visions and darker all the time, she starts to fear her seemingly pending death... I would LOVE to be able to allow her own crazy suspicions (perfectly justified, as it turns out) to alter the way her personal cast behaves- for instance the therapist might come to the conclusion that she's in danger of a psych break when she hits the point at which she THINKS she's going to die, become a danger to herself and others. He'll start to take steps towards an involuntary committal, etc.

The thing hinges on the idea that we might be able to experience overcoming our greatest obstacles in the days, hours or seconds before we die... that the heart can triumph while the body fails.

I don't know if I can do the thing justice without giving the other major players a little bit of time behind the wheel, but in the middle of all of this really unrealistic stuff, my little logic monkey is choosing THIS particular hatch to bang on. And someone taught the monkey to say, "Hey MORON," instead of, "I'm sorry, Dave."

I guess I think of the three of them as part of the team that helps her get from point A to point B- and so I'd definitely be rooting for them, too... does that make sense? Looking at it a little more closely, the therapist would really only get one or two small POV pieces for the purpose of foreshadowing. The other two are top tier and very involved throughout.

Huh... sounds interesting! Thanks.

Thanks so much, you two!

Monkey, the cheated feeling is exactly what I was worried about. Eep! I hate coming to the end of the grisly entrails as a reader and thinking, "That makes NO SENSE!" My complete inability to let things go ruins books and movies for me on a regular basis. So I'm not sure it would be fair to ask readers, should I ever be blessed with any, to ignore the POV problem when I KNOW it would stick in my nose in a hurry.