"Sophie, what are you…oh my gosh!" Mary rushed over to her. "Who is that?"

"I found it in a dumpster, it has wounds and I need you to check it."

"I am not a vet."

"But you are a doctor. Going to be." Sophie placed the puppy on the examination table. Right away it tried to make itself as small as possible.

"What happened to you poor fella?" Mary put gloves on, "who hurt you?"

"There are wounds on the belly, like somebody tried to stab it."

"Let me have a look." Carefully, Mary pressed the puppy down, lay it on its side. "It's one wound and it goes deeper the closer it gets to it throat. Somebody tried to cut the throat."

In the light Sophie saw for the first time all the blood on the puppy. The gray fur had turned reddish brown, it must have been in the dumpster with this wound for a while.

"You are one lucky dog, your fur protected you from worse." Mary let her hands run over the dog, "I need to stitch it, the wound can open any time and I'm afraid your friend lost a lot of blood already. Hold her."

"Her?" Sophie tried to keep the puppy down on the table as soft as possible.

"Yes, it's a her." Mary searched for some medication. "I'm going to give her something to sleep, then I have to shave off some fur and stitch the wound." She looked at the puppy again. "Two pounds? What do you think, Sophie?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"How heavy is she? Two pounds?"

"Yeah, that should be right."

"We better make sure, I have never worked on somebody this light." She picked up a bowl, placed the puppy in it and put it on a scale. "Two pounds. All right. Get her back on the table, I get the injection ready."

"Don't be afraid, Honey, we are going to help you. I know, needles are scary, but this injection will make you sleep so you don't have to witness what is going to happen next. I promise, we will take care of you." Sophie wished there was a way to make it easier for the puppy, that she could take away its fear.

"Sleep tight, little lady," Mary said after she had given the injection. "It will only take a few seconds."

"Thanks Mary."

"Are you going to keep her?"

Was she? She hadn't thought about it. The first thing that had come to her mind was to save the puppy. Could she have a puppy? Wasn't she too busy for that? She worked long hours, had a lot on her plate and…there was no time for a puppy.

"Hey, how are you?"

Kate. What was she doing here? Sophie hadn't expect Kate to show up here.

"Sophie."

Apparently, Kate hadn't expected Sophie to be here either.

"I'm busy with the puppy. You two sit down there and I'll be with you as soon as I'm done here." Mary pushed them towards two chairs and turned her back on them. A part of Sophie wanted to be there, wanted to watch Mary help the puppy but she understood when Mary didn't want people look over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked.

"I brought the puppy, found it in a dumpster."

Kate shook her head in disbelieve. "How can anybody throw a puppy away?"

"Don't ask me, it has been cut, might have been left there to die."

"It was lucky you were there."

"Yeah." The question was, what was she supposed to do with the puppy?

"How do you want to call it?"

What? Name it? She couldn't keep it, she had work to do. "I…I have no idea."

"Well, it needs a name, a nice one."

"Kate, I can't keep it. You know the hours I work, your father called me back so, there is no time for a puppy."

"Do you want to keep it?"

This was not a question of what she wanted, it was a question of what was possible. "Kate, I can't…"

"I didn't ask if you can, I asked if you want."

What did this matter? There was no way she could look after a puppy, no matter what she wanted. "Yes, I'd like to keep her." She had saved her, she wanted to know the puppy was fine.

"Kodah."

"What?"

"Some people say Kodah means home or safe place. She might give your the feeling of being home."

Feeling home? Gotham was her home, of course she felt at home. Or did Kate mean something different? Because, she had always felt home here. Safe was something different. She was supposed to feel safe, as a Crow, she wanted people to feel safe so she had to feel safe too, however, Alice had taken that away from her when she kidnapped her.

"All done, she will be fine." Mary said and smiled. "So, what is her name?"

"Kodah," Sophie answered, looking at Kate.

"Perfect. I'll put her over there so she can wake up in a few minutes."

She shouldn't have named Kodah, it only made her more attached to the puppy. Once you got to know somebody, you missed them. And she'd miss Kodah when she gave her to the shelter or to somebody, who had time for her.

"I can't keep her, I don't have the time."

"You said you want to keep her, there is a way when you want something."

Yeah, that was what she had thought a few years ago, when she wanted to be with Kate and be at Point Rock. Back then, she had wanted a career and her relationship and this hadn't ended up well. Or not at all on the relationship part.

"We have dog sitters in Gotham, they look after Kodah when you are at work. And when I'm in the office, I can look after her. I'll love the distraction."

Kate wanted to look after Kodah? This was…exactly the opposite of what she had suggested the last time they had talked. When she looked after Kodah because Sophie was at work, they didn't keep a distance, they would see each other at least twice a day. No, if she wanted to keep Kodah, she had to find a dog sitter, who looked after the puppy.

"You have a lot of on your plate, a dog sitter is the better solution." For Kodah and for them.

"Okay."

Great, she had hurt Kate's feelings. Again. The lowered eyes, swallowing, and the disappointment Sophie seems to cause to everybody nowadays.

"I mean, unless you need a walk between your real estate work, I'm sure Kodah will enjoy that. After all, you named her." Yes, Kate named her dog. Sophie owned a dog now. How was this supposed to work out?

Well, she better found a way because she knew there was no way she'd give Kodah to anybody else.