𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇

i. suffering in silence [the lodger]

Odie let her head fall into the palms of her hands, exhaling through her pursed lips slowly. She shut her eyes to try and fight off the headache encroaching her skull. It formed from the frustration she felt towards the numerous cases of people doing stupid things every single day and she had to patch up their wounds every time. She knew what she was getting into when she became a paramedic, but couldn't people just think with their heads for one second?

She clapped her hands together and looked over at the digital clock on her desk. She could never have a standard clock anywhere near her since the ticking irritated her to no end. She had even taken down the clock hanging on her office wall and replaced it with a digital clock that displayed military time. No one said anything about it after she had chewed a candidate out when he suggested getting a "real" clock.

Grimacing at the late (or was it early?) time on the clock, she pushed herself to her feet and stood still for a moment, letting her throbbing head calm down before walking over to her small kitchen.

Despite being a paramedic, she still had a one bedroom apartment. She didn't like moving and her current living space still worked for her, so why change anything?

She reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a granola bar, figuring it would be a good snack before going to bed for a few hours. Opening the wrapper and taking a bite, she leaned against the counter with her eyes shut. Doing that probably wasn't the best idea, but she didn't feel like looking around to satisfy her boredom while eating, so closing her eyes was the next best thing.

She supposed she underestimated how tired she was since she went lightheaded and collapsed not a minute later after first closing her eyes.

~ — — — ~

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped, looking around her quickly. She didn't recognize her surroundings and realized that she was outside. She wasn't outside before, she was in her apartment! Where was she?

Forcing herself to take a few calming breaths that really did little to calm her down. She took another good look around her and saw that she was in the middle of a city that she truly didn't recognize. She swallowed and forced herself to move. Since she didn't know where she was, she was going to find someone and go ask them. Sure, she may look crazy doing that, but she needed answers and she needed them now.

Walking over to the first home she saw, she walked up the steps and knocked on the door. She had to wait for a moment before she heard footsteps rapidly approaching the door, whispered yells on the other side that made her raise her eyebrows. The door opened to reveal who she could only assume was the owner, who was looking over his shoulder at another man, this one skinny and wearing a bowtie. She blinked. Who wears bowties nowadays?

"Hello, can I help you?" the man who opened the door asked kindly, smiling.

She gave him a thin smile in return. "Hi, sorry to interrupt your day," she started, not noticing the bowtie man begin to grin at the sound of her voice. "I seem to be a little lost. Can you tell me where I am?"

The man's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well, you're in Colchester," he answered, making her eyes widen. "Are you okay?"

"England?" she muttered in shock. She shook her head. "Uh, yeah. I just got a little turned around and—"

"Odie!" The bowtie man rushed over and shoved past the other man, wrapping his arms around the bewildered girl. He began to pull her inside and unwrapped his arms, tugging her down the hallway. "Don't worry Craig. She's my friend."

"And your friend was lost," Craig said, confused just like Odie herself was.

"Yeah, she does that sometimes," the bowtie man said dismissively.