Chapter 3 - If Only Tears Could Bring You Back
Barbara watched in horror and gasped sadly as she saw Vinny's lifeless body on the operating table.
The doctor came in and sighed sadly.
"Okay, that's it," he said. "I'm calling it. Time of death, 5:32 PM."
"I..." Barbara thought, eyes widening. "I can't believe it. I... I killed him. Oh, what have I done? What... have I... done?"
The doctor pulled his gloves off and sighed as he turned off the light, while the nurse removed the wires from Vinny's chest and covered his body with a sheet.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," the doctor consoled the brokenhearted dog, "that you had to see that. I'm afraid we've lost him. Should I tell the family?"
Barbara looked down sadly and sighed, "Yes. Can I have a moment alone with him while you tell them?"
The doctor nodded and shut the door, leaving Barbara alone with Vinny. She sighed as she pulled the sheet off his face, seeing how lifeless it was, aside from the black eyes he received.
"Oh, Vinny," she wept. "I'm so sorry. If I had known about your relationship with Brian from the start, I never should have fought you."
She ran her paw on his head.
"My obsession with being a fighting dog let this happen," she continued, breaking down. "I should have let it go." She began to grieve. "I... should have... let it go," she repeated as a tear fell from her eyes.
That tear fell on Vinny's cheek. In an instant, his eyes trembled, and he began to grunt; he had just slowly been resurrected suddenly. He opened his eyes, and looked at a still-crying Barbara.
"B...Barbara?" his voice broke, barely unable to talk above a whisper, prompting Barbara to open her eyes, which then widened in surprise.
"Vinny," she replied, her lip slowly curling into a smile.
She then hugged him, shedding tears of joy.
"What are you doing?" he asked, confused. "I thought you hated me."
"Oh, Vinny," she began, "I'm so sorry. I should never have let my obsession of being a fighting dog get the better of me."
"Fighting dog?" Vinny repeated, even more confused. "What are you talking about?"
Barbara let go of him and explained. "It's about time I told you about my past, Vinny. Sometime, after I lost my mother and sisters, that jerk, may he rest in misery, brought me over to an illegal dog-fighting organization. I spent my whole childhood there, locked in cages along with about twenty other dogs, fighting the bigger, tougher dogs to stay alive and earn my keep. I was one of the best fighters in that place. That is, until a Pit Bull named Arnie was brought in. He was bigger, and more ferocious than I was. I didn't have the guts to beat him. He bit me, scratched me, and did all he could to keep me down. That jerk was so proud of Arnie, and threw me out into the streets, calling me useless. That was before... your big brother Brian found me."
"Wait," Vinny's eyes widened listening to her story. "You know Arnie? And how the hell did you know Brian was my big brother?"
Barbara sighed, "I found that out the hard way," she admitted, "when I was in my heart-attack-induced coma, shortly after I fought you. I... I didn't think I'd go this far." Pause. "But how do you know Arnie?"
Vinny looked down and sighed. "Arnie... came to my alley one day, and he beat the crap out of me. I didn't have the balls to defeat him. He promised that if he saw me again, I'd be a dead dog."
"Oh, Vinny," Barbara began to beg, "do you think you can accept a fighting dog's apology?"
Vinny couldn't help but smile at his sister-in-law. "Oh, Barbara," he said. "Apology accepted."
And with that, Vinny gave Barbara a heartwarming hug. The two dogs finally made peace with each other, right before the doctor opened the door, letting the rest of the family in. Their sad faces gave way to those of surprise and confusion when they saw that Vinny was alive.
"What the hell?" Lois said to the doctor. "You told us that Vinny was dead!"
"He was," the doctor shrugged, "but somehow, he was brought back to life. Barbara must have revived him."
"Ewww!" the puppies repulsed. "He's hugging her!"
"No, no!" Barbara assured them. "He's all right now. He's... your uncle."
Pause.
"Our... what?"
Both the in-law dogs looked at each other.
"We need to explain all of this to the puppies, don't we, Barbs?" Vinny admitted.
"Yes," Barbara nodded in agreement.
