Respite for carers

is not something I expected to happen. 
The Senior Cat had a fall on Tuesday. By some miracle he did not break anything. This surprises me, really surprises me because it was a real fall rather than the more gentle "slides" of recent times. 
I heard the bang, bump, bump sound and went into the bedroom to find him sitting on the floor looking more surprised than anything else.
   "How did that happen?"
   "I don't know."
   "Have you hurt yourself?"
   "I don't think so."
That was something. My pulse rate went back a notch or two as I hope his did.
   "I can get up," he told me.
   "No you can't," I told him. I know he can't. He cannot get off the floor these days.
He thought about this for all of two seconds and said,
   "Can you ring G... then?" G....is a friend who had only just taken a load of kindling home from here. He lives two minutes away by car. 
   "No G... can't lift you."
   "I don't want you calling the ambulance people."
   "I'll see if Middle Cat is home. If Y.... (my nephew) is there too they will come over."
They were home. They did come over. Y..., a doctor, asked all the right questions. They got the Senior Cat to his feet. He insisted he was fine but....oh, yowl, it hurt to walk. 
At 97 you do not take risks. Middle Cat called the ambulance service and, protesting, the Senior Cat was taken to the Emergency Department. This was after a wait of almost three hours and many apologies from the two ambulance officers who eventually arrived.
Middle Cat went with him this time.
    "Because you didn't get much sleep last night anyway."
No, I didn't. He had a very restless night.
They kept him in overnight - x-rays, scan etc. Middle Cat went home to sleep once they said he was staying in. I arrived at her place in time to hear the conversation with the ED doctor. Middle Cat told me he looked as if he should still be at school he was so young.  Middle Cat was giving him an anatomy lesson over the phone, telling him what to look for. Ah right, no nothing broken but some serious bruising, possible tear in a muscle....and so it went on. No, my sister (me) is the one who looks after him and if he needs help at night....more of that.
Middle Cat and I looked at one another.
    "I'll come over and sleep at your place," Middle Cat said, "That's if we can't get at least a week of respite."
As Middle Cat is a notoriously bad sleeper I didn't think that was going to work too well but it would be better than nothing. Respite? The Senior Cat is remarkably sensible and thoughtful about such things. He thought it would be a wonderful idea. 
   "It will give Cat a break," he said, "She needs it."
The hospital agreed. Where? Well, there were two possible places, one (and this is amazing) just around the corner from Middle Cat and within pedalling distance of me. The Senior Cat thought it was an excellent idea. A little holiday for both of us he said.
He went there late yesterday afternoon. He was very cheerful about it. The staff seem nice. The place does not smell the way most such places smell. It is only for a short while.  He doesn't seem to mind.
So why do I feel like such a b..... failure?