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EXHAUSTION DIDN'T EVENsum up a fraction of what Odessa was feeling. Her brain felt as if it was on fire and melting through vacant eye sockets. Her hands were numb and shaky after signing so many contracts and release forms. The only thing that kept her from passing out right there on the interrogation room floor was the fact that she'd be set free of the bland room once and for all—she hoped.
A shorter, old man with golden brown skin and black facial hair opened the door to the interrogation room. He opened it wide, which is what initially caught Odessa's attention. Every other time an agent came through that door, they kept the door at closed as possible. It weirded her out.
He failed to acknowledge the zombie-like girl and only nodded at Emily, who stacked the papers neatly and stood.
"Ms. Collins," she said, gesturing for the girl to stand up. Odessa's legs felt like jelly as she stood. "This is SSA David Rossi. He's a part of our team. He'll show you the way out."
Odessa looked between Emily and Rossi; which was beginning to feel like a feeling she thought she'd long forgotten. She was reminding of the times where she had to chose between her mother and father. Nowadays she wished she chose her father.
Swallowing the feeling, Odessa made her way toward the older man. He gave her a sad smile as she stepped into the dim hallway after him. She couldn't find the energy to return it.
As the duo made their way through a maze of hallways and doors with fancy locks on them, Odessa was having a hard time processing all that happened in the past few hours. Just seven hours ago she was fearful of being locked in a cage for life, getting a tramp-stamp from another woman who was locked for life. But now she was trusted, not as much as she'd like, but enough; and still that alone shocked her.
She let her mind wander to her favorite agent, or doctor—whichever he preferred. She wondered where he stood in all of this. Was he happy? Scared? Probably a little bit of both. She hoped and prayed he'd still be as kind to her as he was before; if she were to be working the case with this team, she figured it'd get pretty lonely considering no one really wanted to give her something as simple as the time of day.
"Did Prentiss ever tell you our branch of the bureau?" Rossi finally said, raising an eyebrow at the sleep-deprived woman. His voice reminded her of her old, wise grandfather who passed away when she was thirtee. She didn't think of him much, but couldn't help but wonder what he thought of her entire ordeal.
Odessa shook her head, failing to remember. In truth, Emily probably did mention thee branch, but Odessa was functioning on her last brain cell and couldn't even remember the old man's name. "She might have, but I'm too tired for anything to stick," she mumbled. Even speaking took a tremendous amount of energy.
