Darkness took him. When consciousness returned, the world was too white, too bright. Hospital monitors beeped softly beside him. Alan blinked, throat dry, pain still screaming in his back. A nurse leaned over with kind eyes. “You’re safe now,” she said. He barely managed to speak. “The cat… the pups…” His voice cracked.
“They’re okay,” she said gently. “The vet came. They’re alive and doing better now.” Alan exhaled a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He closed his eyes, tears slipping down his temples. He had saved them. Somehow. Against the storm, against his own broken body—he’d saved them. That was all that mattered.
When Alan got discharged from the hospital, the first thing he did was visit the vet where the cat and pups had been taken. Alan’s heart lifted when he saw the cat awake, its eyes no longer glassy but full of light. As soon as the cat spotted Alan, it started purring weakly, and it pushed itself up, padding over to him.
Alan knelt down, gently stroking the cat’s head as it leaned into him, a soft whimper escaping its lips. The cat licked his hand, its gratitude and affection palpable. Alan’s eyes misted as he realized how the cat had almost sacrificed its life for the puppies.