**Diary Entry**
The faintest mewl reached Roberts ears. Glancing down, he spotted a tiny kitten, its mother desperately shielding it from a snarling dog. His feet slipped on the rain-slicked pavement, unsteady from the drink. His mind was as foggy as the night around himas if someone had shattered the streetlamps inside his soul.
In his grip was a freshly opened bottle, poised for another swig. He hoped the alcohol might dull the ache strangling him from within. The same question gnawed: *Why me?* But hed long run out of strength to search for answers.
Robert had been a brilliant surgeon. His steady hands had saved countless lives, even in the direst cases. He worked himself ragged, fighting for every patient. Each operation was a battlefor health, for hope. Newspapers wrote about him; the telly featured him. Yet none of it mattered. He didnt want famejust the chance to help. He turned down prestigious London hospitals, refused hefty paychecks, staying loyal to his hometown. His wife despised him for it. She screamed, accused, but Robert held firm.
Then came that day. Shed learned hed rejected another London offer. The phone call exploded into another row. She shrieked that he was ruining their family. Their son sat in the car, but even his presence didnt silence her. She never saw the lorry pulling out.
Impact. Brakes. Court. A funeral. Emptiness.
He raised the bottlethen a bark cut through the wind. Robert squinted. Under the dim glow of a streetlamp, a lad with a bulldog was tormenting a cat. The poor thing hissed, pressed against the wall, shielding something small.
“Oi! What dyou think youre doing?” Robert flung the bottle aside and charged forward.
The boy spun, saw him, and yanked the dogs lead. Robert scooped up the trembling cat. Beneath her, the kitten let out a pitiful mew.
“Teaching your mutt to maul defenceless animals?” Robert snapped. “If you were mine, youd be grounded for a month! Wheres your fatherdid he teach you this?”
The lads shoulders slumped. “Havent got one,” he mumbled.
Something in his voice made Robert pause. A tear glinted in the lamplight.
“You know its wrong, yeah?”
The boy nodded. “Mum got me Rex. Just wanted to see if hed listen. Wont do it again.”
“Name?” Robert asked.
“Arthur.”
“Dont make me have this chat twice, Arthur.”
The boy hurried off.
Clutching the cats, Robert rushed homea flat just minutes away. He set them on the sofa. The mothers paw was hurt. He stroked her head. She nuzzled into his touch.
“Proper little beauty, you are. And this ones a spitting image,” he murmured, eyeing the kitten.
He fetched some pâté from the fridge. They devoured it. As the mother groomed her kitten, Robert smiled.
“Gentle thing, you are Grace. Thats your name.”
Wrapping them in a jumper, he dashed to the all-night vet down the road.
“We need helpnow!”
A young woman hurried over. “Whats happened?”
Robert carefully lifted Grace. “Her paws broken. Found her defending her kitten.”
After X-rays, the veta Dr. Emilysmiled. “Shell pull through. Youre that surgeon from St. Marys, arent you?”
“You sure shell recover?”
“Positive. You saved her life.”
Robert sighed. “Some lad with a bulldog nearly finished her off.”
Emily paled. “Boxer?”
“Yeah. Know him?”
Her voice wavered. “Hes my son.”
Robert stared. “Didnt realise. You got him the dog?”
“After his dad died thought itd help.” She forced a smile. “Youve got a calicothats luck. Come back tomorrow.”
Over the next fortnight, Robert doted on Grace. The kittennow dubbed “Winston”soon ruled the flat. Colleagues noticed the change: Robert smiled more, even showed off photos of Winstons antics.
Each vet visit became a chance to talk with Emily. Soon, it was just “Em”. She confided in himthe struggle of raising a teen alone, the long shifts. She adored animals, but her late husbands allergies had forbidden them.
Rex, their boxer, was a handful. Robert enlisted a dog trainer. Arthur started visiting, even joined them on trips to Roberts countryside cottage. Three months later, Robert proposed.
They married at home, a small affair. Grace and Winston eyed Rex warily, but the dog stayed patient, letting Winston curl against him.
“Winstons charmed him,” Em laughed.
Robert shook his head. “Grace brought me back to lifeand to you.”
The cat stretched, purring as he rubbed her belly.
“Because of her weve got a proper family now.”
Grace blinked up at them, whiskers twitchingas if smiling. Her job was done. Shed brought them happiness.
