The judge was quiet for a long time.
Then she said, “Bring the dog in.”
The dog entered on a leash.
She moved low. Careful. Watching everything.
When she reached Faust, she stopped.
Her body collapsed inward. Tail tucked. She sank to the floor and urinated. Not defiance. Fear.
She wouldn’t look at him.
“She’s nervous,” he said.
No one answered.
They walked her forward.
Toward Elijah.
He didn’t call her. Didn’t move.
She saw him.
Her tail lifted—slow, cautious.
She pulled forward.
Climbed into his lap.
Forty-five pounds of scars and hunger and fear—folding into him like she finally found something solid.
She tucked her head under his chin.
And exhaled.
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