Dereck came back the next day, but, this time, it were Frank and Emily on duty. George had given them the heads-up that the man would come, so they greeted him with smiles and led him to the dog enclosure. 

Frank gave Dereck a bowl with dog food and Emily gave him a toy bone, and they went back to their jobs. Dereck looked around and saw Julia in her corner again, but, unlike last time, she was not cowering.

She was watching the other dogs eat the food they were given with interest, but she was not moving towards them. Dereck made a beeline for her and placed the bow and the bone before her. Then, he laid on his stomach and rested his head on his hands.

"Hello, girl, it's me again. Do you remember me?" Julia's tail gave an uncertain wag, and she neared the food. Then, she saw the bone, and her brown eyes lit up.

"The other dogs don't let you play with the toys often, do they?" Dereck chuckled as she began sniffing the toy. "Well, go ahead."

Julia picked up the bone and threw it in the air. Then, she jumped and tried to catch it, but it hit her on the nose and fell on the ground. She huffed, picked up the bone, and threw it again.

On her tenth try, she managed to catch the bone, and she sat down opposite of Dereck and wagged her tail. Now that Dereck could see her better, he saw that most of the damage was on her legs and underbelly.

The burns looked healed, but Dereck knew that phantom pain was a very real thing in both humans and animals, so he decided not to try to give her belly rubs for now.

He reached out his hand and hovered it over Julia's. When the puppy didn't move away, he patted her three times and pulled back his hand.

"Good girl," Julia tilted her head to the side and dropped the bone, and she began to eat her food, finally. A bigger dog came and tried to take her bone, but Dereck placed a hand on its coat, and it sat down.

"Stealing is bad, and you are a good dog, right?" The dog wagged its tail and, when it was not allowed to take the bone again, left.  Meanwhile, Julia was licking her bowl clean. Dereck took out his water bottle and filled the bowl with water.

"You had problems with other dogs?" Dereck continued to speak as Julia lapped at the water. "Or, are you afraid of everything?"

The dog stopped drinking to look at him for a second, and Dereck decided that maybe, just maybe, dogs understood more than they let on.

"You know, when I came back, I had nightmares all the time," Dereck admitted. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the bullets flying at him. Hear people yell at him as they charged.

Hear the sound of the jets going over his head and his own prayers that they didn't decide that one platoon was less of a sacrifice than the chance of letting the terrorists win the fight.

"But then, I went to a support group. I suppose you can't, seeing as you are a dog that can't tell anyone what you have been through," Julia sat down, her food forgotten.

"It was an assignment from the group leader for me to adopt a dog. I was told to get a happy-go-lucky one, from a shop. But I came to the shelter instead. Do you want to know why?" Julia tilted her head to the left and blinked at him. That was all the confirmation Dereck needed to give his reasoning.

"Because a happy-go-lucky dog won't understand why I would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. But, you will," Dereck reached out a hand and Julia placed her burned paw in it. "Do you want to come home with me? I have already bought a bed and toys. And, I am certain that, if I ask, the nice people here are going to tell me what type of dog food I should buy."

Julia curled up her paw and barked. Dereck scooped her up and carried her out of the enclosure. Not once did she whine. At the front desk, Julia hid her face in Dereck's chest. She was not placed in a carrier, for Dereck didn't want her to feel trapped. Instead, he carried her out and a bag with enough food for her for the rest of the day.

As Emily closed the door behind the scarred man, she leaned on it. Frank neared her and smiled at her.

"Julia got adopted. Never thought that I would see the day," Frank said, and Emily nodded.

"Do you know Dahlia? The hamster that got dropped off yesterday?" Emily asked and Frank nodded. The woman who had come with the hamster hadn't wanted to part with it. It had been her mother's. But, she simply hadn't had the time to take care of it.

"She is pregnant. The tests came yesterday," Frank sighed. Well, that explained why the woman had been so quick to discard the hamster.

"I am sure we can whip up an adoption campaign for her children once she stops nursing them," they always had an easier time giving away small animals than adult ones.

"I was thinking I can take Dahlia herself, and neuter her," Emily offered. She hadn't had a pet in a long time. But hamsters were easier to look after than a cat or a dog. She was sure that, even with her ten-hour shifts, she could manage to look after one.

"Let us make sure that she has a comfortable pregnancy first. Do you want to switch her pallets, or should I?" Emily nodded.

"I'll go. She has to take a liking to me. I might just bribe her with a baby carrot," they both chuckled and went their separate ways.  The care for the animals being a never-ending cycle.