Warning: This chapter may contain cheesy family/friendship moments. This chapter will be sad. Tears and sorrow may occur. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

December 9, 2009

The case on who climbed over the Garcia's fence that day turned out to be one of the biggest cases in Minneapolis. The man was the same man that killed Sylvia Garcia. After hearing that bit of information, Mr. Garcia was on the case almost 24/7, and he told Miguel and Carlos to stay in the house when they weren't at school. Mr. Garcia even taught Miguel to use a gun in case of an emergency.

The whole case was crazy. The man on the rampage was named Robert Drew. He killed over 30 people in the U.S and was one of the most wanted criminals in America. While the Minneapolis police department was working the case, three people had been killed, including Kendall's dad. It was very sad for everyone.

Carlos lay on his stomach, on the floor, spinning his helmet around. He was just plain board. He finished his homework, he couldn't go outside, there was nothing on TV, and Sparky was doing police work. In the past month Sparky hadn't been home much at all. His dad took him to work every day, and since his dad was staying at work more, so was Sparky, and frankly, he was starting to miss Sparky something awful.

Carlos perked up when he heard the front door open. That meant his dad was home, and if his dad was home Sparky was home!

"Carlos, come here son," Mr. Garcia called.

Carlos grabbed his helmet from the floor and placed it on his head. He ran up the stairs and to the front door. His dad was standing there, but he looked kinda somber.

"What's wrong Dad?" Carlos asked.

"Carlos, come out to the car," Mr. Garcia said.

"Okay…" Carlos said hesitantly. It was strange of his dad to not say hi like he normally did when he got home.

Carlos slipped on his boots and walked outside into the snow. Mr. Garcia was unlocking the door to the Jeep. Carlos got into the passenger's seat and buckled his seatbelt while his dad got the car started and backed out of the driveway in a hurry. Carlos turned his head when he heard a whimper coming from the back.

Carlos looked over his seat and saw Sparky lying in the back of the car. The poor dog's eyes were blood shot and he was sprawled across the back seat. Sparky looked like he was in serious pain.

"What's wrong with Sparky, Dad?" Carlos asked nervously.

"The guy we were chasing had a gun and aimed it right at him. There's a bullet somewhere around his stomach. I'm surprised it didn't kill him." Mr. Garcia said.

"What?" Carlos screamed.

"Carlos, don't yell,"

"But, Dad, is Sparky going to be okay?"

"We're going to take him to the vet to make sure, okay? Just sit tight." Mr. Garcia said.

Carlos looked in the back seat where the German Shepard was lying. He felt like he was going to burst into tears. Seeing Sparky like that was right. He looked like he was in really bad shape.

"Is he going to be okay?" Carlos asked.

"I'm not sure. That's why we're going to take him to the veterinarian. Keep your head up, Chico." Mr. Garcia told him. Carlos nodded and turned away from Sparky. It was hard to keep his head up, especially when Sparky was whimpering so loudly, but he kept quiet until they got to the vet.

Mr. Garcia pulled into a parking spot at the pet hospital and they got out of the car. Carlos stood by as Mr. Garcia lifted Sparky out of the car. Carlos looked in awe at how strong his daddy was. Sparky was a big dog, but then again, Mr. Garcia was a big man.

Carlos gasped in shock when he saw a puddle of blood on the car's back seat. He didn't notice that before. It made him want to bend over and hurl.

They rushed into the building and Mr. Garcia talked to the receptionist while Carlos took a seat in a chair. Carlos couldn't take his eyes off his dog. Sparky was always barking and playing around. He got hurt a couple of times over the years, but nothing as bad as taking a bullet.

A couple of vets came into the room and took Sparky from Mr. Garcia. Not even Carlos could help but smile at how much the vet was like the people doctor. The doctors dressed the same and it was designed the same way too. It was pretty amusing.

"Dad, what'd the doctor say?" Carlos asked when he saw his dad come towards him.

"They're going to take a look at Sparky. I have to get back to work. Do you want to stay here?" Carlos nodded. "Okay, I'll come back after my shift. Call me on your phone if you hear anything."

"I will," Carlos said. Mr. Garcia smiled and ruffled Carlos's hair. He left after that.

Carlos sighed and slumped in his chair. He figured he'd be there for a while. He took a look at the clock and saw it was almost 6:00. It was pretty late. He'd call Miguel, but he knew Miguel was in the middle of a class. Time was going by so slowly.

Carlos reached into his pocket when he felt his phone vibrate. Kendall was calling. He needed someone to talk to so he answered.

"Hi," Carlos said.

"Hey 'Los, what's up?" Kendall said cheerfully.

"I'm waiting at the vet,"

"What for? What'd Sparky do?"

"Something happened to him while he was on duty. My dad dropped me and Sparky off at the vet so now I'm waiting."

"What happened?"

Carlos thought for a minute. He wasn't sure if he wanted to say. "A bullet's stuck in him," he found himself saying. There was a silence. Carlos felt butterflies in his stomach.

"That's funny Carlos, but don't scare me like that," Kendall told him. Carlos felt like crying again.

"It's not a joke, Kendall! The guy my dad has been after for weeks shot my dog!" Carlos stopped. People were starting to stare. "I'm waiting to hear something now." He said in a lower voice.

"You're seriously waiting at the pet hospital alone? Do you want me to go there with you?" Kendall offered.

"Can you?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit," Kendall said.

"Thanks,"

"No problem, buddy. I'll be there in a few minutes. Talk to you then." Kendall said.

"Bye," Carlos said. He hung up his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.

Carlos glanced at the clock again. The time was getting pretty close to 6:30. It felt strange to be alone in a big waiting room. Carlos could handle being alone at his house or in a classroom, but sitting by himself with people he didn't know felt unpleasantly awkward.

It felt like it was taking Kendall forever to get to the veterinarian's building. Carlos noticed him outside the doors. Kendall was riding his bike too fast again. As always, he stopped too suddenly and toppled over the handles. He heard Kendall crash into something, probably other bikes. The people in the waiting room noticed and watched to see what was going on. Carlos perked up when he saw James and Hortence stop on their bikes, slowly. They helped Kendall up off the floor then the three boys ran into the building.

"Carlos!" James shouted upon entering the building "Did Sparky really get shot?"

"Yeah…" Carlos said quietly.

"Is he going to be okay? Did the vet tell you anything yet?" Hortence asked.

"No, I think they're still looking at Sparky," Carlos said.

"How long does it take to look at a bullet?" James asked impatiently as they all took a seat. "I mean you look at the bloody spot, see the bullet, call it a problem and fix it. It doesn't take this long to see that it's a problem. Just operate on the thing!"

"Thing?" Carlos chocked a sob.

Logan and Kendall both hit James's arms. They gave him glares. Neither of them were the least bit impressed.

"Shut up James! You're not helping!" Hortence exclaimed.

"Sparky isn't a thing," Carlos said quietly, looking into James eyes. Carlos's sad puppy eyes were killing all of them.

"Dude, you know I didn't mean it like that," James said "I just got kinda excited, you know?"

"Don't call Sparky a thing anymore. He's not a thing. He's my best friend." Carlos told him.

"I won't say it anymore. I promise. I swear I didn't mean it." James said genuinely.

Carlos looked down at the floor and shrugged. He knew James didn't mean it. James hardly ever means anything he says.

"It's alright, dude," Carlos said.

"I bet Sparky will be fine," Kendall assured Carlos.

"Are you guys going to stay with me?" Carlos asked.

James, Hortence and Kendall looked at Carlos. He was giving them his puppy dog look again. They did have the heart to leave the kid alone, scared to death about his dog, even if they wanted to.

"Yeah, we're going to stay with you," Kendall said. Carlos smiled and their long wait started.

They sat in the waiting room together for two hours. They didn't talk much to each other. There was too much tension and anxiety. Carlos was worried about Sparky and the boys were worried about Carlos. Almost the whole time Carlos stared off into space. He had a dark gloomy look on his face that they'd never seen before. It worried them.

Finally a vet came to talk to them. She told them that Sparky has a bullet stuck in his abdomen and it was causing him a great deal of pain. That was all they'd let the boys know. If they wanted to hear anything more, Mr. Garcia would have to be there.

"What now?" James asked.

"I'm going to call Papi. Maybe his shift is over by now." Carlos said as he pulled out his phone.

"But aren't cops always busy?" James asked.

"My dad'll stop for me. This is a family emergency." Carlos said. He pressed the phone to his ear and shushed his friends.

Mr. Garcia picked up and Carlos went outside to talk to him. Kendall, James and Hortence stayed behind.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Carlos act so mature before in my life," Logan said.

"Well, he's really close to Sparky. He got Sparky as a Christmas present after his mom died. Sparky was, like, the only thing that made him happy for a while." James said.

"I wonder what will happen if Sparky dies," Kendall said.

Logan shushed them as Carlos walked back into the waiting room. "You guys can go now if you want to. My dad is going to be here in five minutes."

"Well, we can stay here if you want us to," Hortence said.

"No, you guys should go home now. You've all probably missed dinner. I feel bad." Carlos said.

"Alright, tell us if you hear anything," Kendall said. He picked up his jacket from the chair and walked out the door with James and Hortence, leaving Carlos by himself.

Soon Mr. Garcia came through the front doors and walked up to the front desk. Carlos watched from his chair as Mr. Garcia talked to the receptionist for a few minutes. He was about to stand up and go talk too when his dad turned around and came towards him.

"Come on, Carlos, we have to go talk to the vet," Mr. Garcia said.

Carlos started to panic on the inside as he followed his dad down the hall. He knew from experience that "talking" to people always meant trouble. If the teacher wanted to "talk", then you either got a bad grade on a test or got caught. If a girl wanted to "talk" then it was goodbye. If parents wanted to "talk" then something was going to change. There was just no winning with "talking". That's one of the reasons why Carlos liked Sparky so much. He didn't talk. All he did was run and play around. He was a bubbly dog.

Carlos and Mr. Garcia walked into an office where the vet was sitting at her desk. "Take a seat, please," she said. They did so.

"What's wrong with Sparky?" Carlos asked immediately.

"Well, it seems that the bullet in Sparky's abdomen is stuck in there," The vet said sliding a couple of x-rays towards them. Carlos picked one up and held it up to the light. The bullet was in the middle of his abs and close to his heart. It was really in there too.

"When are you going to take it out? I mean you look at the bloody spot, see the bullet, call it a problem and fix it. It doesn't take this long to fix the problem. Just operate on my dog." Carlos said impatiently.

"Chico…" Mr. Garcia hissed.

"That is the problem though," the vet said "The bullet is causing him a great deal of pain because it's too deep in him. An operation would be useless. The best thing to do is to put Sparky to sleep."

Carlos stood out of his chair so quickly that it tipped the chair he was sitting in over. "NO!" He screamed "Don't put Sparky to sleep!"

"Carlos!" Mr. Garcia snapped. "Can you give us a minute, Doctor?" he asked.

"Sure go ahead," she said.

Mr. Garcia ushered Carlos out into the hallway. By now tears were coming from Carlos's eyes. He didn't want Sparky to die.

"I don't want to put down Sparky, Papi. Can't the vet do something?" Carlos pleaded.

"I know you don't want to put him down, but the doctors can't do anything. You love Sparky don't you?" Carlos nodded "Then you have to choose what's best for your dog. You can decide not to put him to sleep, but he'll be in pain and hardly be able to move, and he might pass on in his sleep sooner or later. Or you can choose to put him to sleep and take him out of his misery. I want you to choose what you think will be best for Sparky."

Carlos nodded and wiped his face. He headed back into the vets office. The vet was looking at a clipboard on her desk. She looked up when she saw Carlos and his dad walk back in.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked Carlos.

"I guess we have to put him to sleep," Carlos said quietly. After he said it he wished he could take it back, but at the same time he didn't. He wanted what was best for his dog even though it made him feel sick.

"Okay then, I'll get everything ready," the vet said. She stood up and took he clip board with her.

"Wait!" Carlos said before the vet left the room "Can I see Sparky before you kill him?"

"Sure, he's right through that door," she pointed to the door on the right.

"Thank you," Mr. Garcia said then went in the room with Carlos.

The door led to a large, white room. Sparky was lying on top of an operating table. The poor dog's eyes were still blood shot and he had a bandage around his waist. Sparky looked at Carlos and he whimpered.

"Sparky…" Carlos whispered. He ran to Sparky and gave him the best hug he could. Sparky smelled of blood and sweat. Carlos could've cared less though. "I'm gonna miss you boy. I don't wanna put you to sleep, but I have to. I'm sorry."

"You're doing the right thing for him though, Carlos. I'm glad you made the right decision." Mr. Garcia said. He pet Sparky's head softly.

"The right decision is so hard though," Carlos said. His voice was hoarse and scratchy. He was trying hard not to cry. He didn't like crying in public.

"It's going to be okay. Just think, Sparky will be in doggy heaven with all the other dogs. He'll be happy."

"I-I guess so," Carlos hiccupped.

There was a knock on the door. Carlos and Mr. Garcia turned around and saw the vet come into the room. She was carrying a tray of shots. Carlos's stomach twisted in knots. Shots seemed like such a horrible way to kill a pet.

"Are you going to kill Sparky now?" Carlos asked.

"If you're ready," the vet said.

"Yeah," Carlos said hesitantly "I'm ready. Go ahead." He kissed Sparky's head one more time then walked towards the door.

"Where are you doing, Son?" Mr. Garcia asked.

"I can't watch," He said quietly before leaving the room.

Carlos stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and walked down the hallway. He watched the colored tile squares on the floor as he walked. He didn't even notice he was crying until he sat down in the waiting room. He couldn't believe Sparky was going to die. He hated it.

December 25, 2009

Carlos was depressed ever since Sparky died. He cried every night for a week after Sparky was put down. He refused to go to school for a week. Every day that week Carlos wouldn't go to school, James, Kendall, and Logan would go over to his house to make him feel better. To no avail though.

On Christmas morning Carlos didn't want to get out of bed. He didn't race out of his bedroom to wake Miguel and his dad up in a very violent and merciless way. He didn't feel like it. Instead he stayed in his bed with his blankets over his head. Out of all the terrible Christmases he'd been through this one without Sparky was the worst.

Mr. Garcia decided to pick up a present from under the tree and give it to Carlos in bed.

"Chico, don't you want to open a present?" Mr. Garcia asked as he entered the bedroom. Miguel followed behind to attempt to cheer up Carlos.

"No, I'm too sad," Carlos murmured into his pillow.

"Come on, I think you'll really like this present. I tried to get you a special present this year." Mr. Garcia said.

"Come on, kid," Miguel added.

Carlos peeked out from his blanket and reached out for the present and unwrapped it under the covers. Miguel and Mr. Garcia watched from the side, hoping that present would get him out of bed.

"Papi…" Carlos whimpered from under the covers. He pushed off the blankets and reached to give his dad a hug.

"What'd you get?" Miguel asked.

Carlos pulled away from his dad and held up a mold of Sparky's paw print. The paw print was molded into a white circle of clay and his name was carved above the paw print. On the back a picture of Sparky was taped. He looked bold in his police vest and collar.

"Wow," Miguel said.

Carlos sniffled and grabbed a roll of tape from his bedside table. He taped the picture of Sparky to his wall and the paw print mold next to it. He sat there starring at them both. The memories that were coming back to him made him happy. It was bittersweet.

"Carlos?" Mr. Garcia brought him back to reality. Carlos turned around and looked at him. "Are you up for opening presents?"

"Yeah, thanks Dad," he said. He got out of bed and went to the den to open up presents.

Carlos wasn't sure if Sparky's death would make him sad forever or not. He didn't feel like being sad about it anymore. He still loved Sparky to bits though. The more the thought about it the happier he was with his choice to put Sparky down. He didn't want Sparky to suffer with a bullet in his abdomen. That'd be worse than Sparky being dead. As long as Sparky was happy, he was happy.

A/N: There! The End! And only 2 days after Christmas! Geez, it's over 3,000 words long. I loved it though ^_^

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas (or Hanukkah. You know who you are) My Christmas was fantastic if you're wondering. Family time it fun ^_^