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.