Chapter 3

Josephine Grey

Sunday, November 17th, 1985

Hill Valley

4:58 P.M.

"I'm telling you, Dr. Long, this is a mistake! You're putting her with the worst of the patients here! He's a paranoid schizophrenic with tendencies toward pyromania -- he'll hurt her! He needs to be in total isolation!"

Oh brother, Josephine Grey thought, rolling her eyes under her closed eyelids. Here she was, trying to enjoy a nice sleep before being put in with a new crazy person, and she had to listen to this woman rant and rave. She couldn't even manage to tune her out completely -- her shrill voice got through the mental shields. Please shut up, Miss Adams or whatever your name is. I want to delay meeting this new nutcase for as long as possible.

"Dr. Adams, we have no other choice. All the other cells are full up, and his is the only one that's big enough to fit a second cot."

Josie somehow suppressed a start. That was something she had managed to miss from Dr. Adams's rant. I'm being roomed with a guy? Isn't there some sort of law against that? It certainly sounds like trouble waiting to happen, at any rate. She shuddered internally. Let's hope my reflexes are still as good as ever.

"You said yourself that he's always drugged and restrained to prevent any violent outbursts," Dr. Long continued. "Considering that Josephine here is generally in a catatonic state, I think they'll get along for the time being. Later we can set up a screen or something similar."

Josie heard a door unlock. "You're making a mistake," Dr. Adams warned.

"We have no choice. All our other options have been exhausted. Move his bed."

"What's going on?" a man's voice asked, obviously confused.

"We recently received a new inmate from another asylum. Since all the other cells are full, you're getting a roommate."

There was a snort of disgust from the man. Josie supposed she couldn't blame him -- after all, she wasn't too thrilled about her new living arrangements either. She heard the attendants start moving the furniture around -- then the attendant carrying her moved forward. Well, this is it. Hopefully my new neighbor won't be too much of a problem -- that Dr. Adams woman seems prone to theatrics. Almost makes me wish I was back in Arthur's Clinic. At least there I had my own room, and the doctors were reasonably normal.

The attendant laid her down on a cot. Josie happily turned over and made herself comfortable. She heard the attendants fuss over her roommate's strait-jacket for a moment, then they finally left. Maybe now I can finally get some real sleep. . . .

A silent few minutes passed. Her roommate made no effort to talk to her, which puzzled Josie. Wasn't he interested in her at all? Curious as to what the man looked like, she rolled back over and opened her eyes.

She nearly stopped breathing. Lying on the bed nearby was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. He had long, fluffy white hair that made her want to run her fingers through it. His face was nicely shaped -- on the thin side, with a strong chin. A scar running down his cheek made him look a little dangerous. Suddenly, Josephine was very interested in her new roommate. "Hello," she said, grinning.

The man turned to look at her, surprise written on his features. Josie felt her heart melt as she looked at his eyes. He had the most beautiful liquid chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen. They looked tired though -- tired and unhappy. She could sense that he had a lot of pain bottled up inside of him -- pain that he was desperately trying to keep hidden. You poor, poor man, she thought. I bet those eyes were so warm and expressive before. . . .

To her joy, the man seemed to like what he saw in her. She exerted just a bit of hypnotic influence on him, just to make sure that he didn't try to shut her out immediately. She wanted to learn more about him first. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Josephine, Josephine Grey," Josie said in greeting. "What's your name?"

For a moment, the man seemed to hesitate, as if fighting her influence. Then he said, "Emmett. Dr. Emmett L. Brown."

Josie smiled. "Hello, Emmett. I didn't realize that this hospital allowed patients to room together -- especially men and women."

"They usually don't," Emmett admitted. "But they had no choice in this case. So I guess we're stuck together." He cocked his head, studying her. "I thought you were catatonic?"

"I sleep most of the day," Josephine shrugged. "They interpret that as partial catatonia." She gave him a once over -- from what she could see, the rest of him seemed just as nice as his face. "What's supposedly wrong with you?"

"Paranoid schizophrenia, with tendencies toward pyromania," Emmett answered, echoing what Dr. Adams had said earlier. Then, clearly influenced by the slight hold she had on him, he added, "Of course, the real reason that I'm in here is because Biff Tannen doesn't want me threatening his empire."

Josie frowned. Sounds like he's in a similar situation to my own. Wonder what Biff found so dangerous about him, though, he seems pretty friendly. . . . "Sounds like what happened to me. My sister had me stuck in here because she's afraid of me. We've had a number of fights over the years." She leaned forward, getting more curious. "How old are you?"

"65," Emmett said. He was starting to smile now -- just a little, but it was preferable to that dull, unhappy expression she had seen before. "How old are you?"

"34," Josie replied. Most people did figure her to be in her mid-30s. She wondered how they'd react to finding out that she was roughly 1000 years old, give or take a few years due to calendar changes. "Have you always been here, or are you a transfer like me?"

"Been here since 1983," Emmett said. "Ever since Biff deemed me too much of a threat to his empire. Where were you before coming here?"

"Arthur's Clinic," Josie said. "They transferred me here after they couldn't 'cure' me. Supposedly this place is one of the best." She chuckled. "We'll see."

Emmett looked suspicious. "This hellhole is supposed to be one of the best? I'll believe that when I see it." He shifted position in his straitjacket.

Josie frowned. Why on earth was he strapped into one of those things inside his cell? It seemed unnecessarily cruel. "That must be very uncomfortable," she noted.

"I'm used to it." Emmett shook his head, smiling faintly again. "I must say, Miss Grey, you have an amazing gift with people. I don't think I've talked this much to anyone in years."

Josephine smiled seductively. "I've been told I have that effect on people," she said silkily, increasing the hypnotic hold on him. "You feel comfortable around me, don't you?" Emmett nodded, his eyes going slightly out of focus as the influence increased. "You can trust me with anything, you know. We're both in the same boat here. You can open up to me whenever you want."

The blank, guarded look came back. "That's all right, Miss Grey," Emmett said, coldly polite. "I wouldn't want to burden you with my emotional issues. I'm sure you have enough of your own." He turned away from her.

Josie winced. Shit, went too fast. I can't help it, it's that cute face of his. . . . Well, I nearly got him smiling for a moment there. That's progress. "Sorry," she said quietly. "But I meant what I said, every word. And I'm willing to wait for you. Share when you're ready, Emmett. I'll be here." She lay back down, smiling at the back of his head. Damn, I wish I could run my fingers through that hair. . . . Oh well. I guess I can wait. She sighed softly as she thought about those wonderful eyes of his again. You're going to be mine, Dr. Emmett L. Brown. And I'm going to be yours. Just you wait and see.