Opening Doctor Brackett's office, Joanne and Roy were taken back to see not only Joe, but also Davis Cook, Scarlett Palmer, and Karl Druthers. Dreading bad news, they glanced at one another and saw the same fear emanating from the other's eyes. Sitting down, each braced themselves for the news.
"I know you weren't expecting all of us," Doctor Early apologized. "It's just that all of us thought it might be best to get together and update the treatment plan for Johnny as it were."
"So, things are going fine?" Roy cautiously asked, holding his breath.
Smiling, Joe nodded, "Very well considering. The tests I ran show that the swelling is almost completely gone. Honestly, I didn't expect the swelling to be so minimal at this point in time. In fact, I think that we can slowly reduce the preventive medications over the next week. As long as no new symptoms occur or old problems pop-up, Johnny should do well without it.
"As far as the bruising goes," here the doctor pushed up his glasses and consulted his notes. "The images are still showing what I'd expect to see. They are healing though, which is the main thing."
"Any idea how much longer it might be before they are completely healed?" Roy queried.
"You know I can't answer that with any certainty," pausing, Joe thought about what he knew about his patient. "However, I still feel that with how fast Johnny has healed in the past, as well as how the contusions looked compared to recently…Well, I'm hoping that in another two months or so they should be completely gone."
Sighing, Joanne closed her eyes.
Two more months, at least! Lord, how will we get through this? The uncertainty, the pain?
Sympathetic, Joe tried to smile, "At least he is healing. And as things get better, we will be able to continue helping John with whatever may come up, as well as your family."
"In fact," Doctor Druthers said. "I feel that with how well things are going, Johnny is more than ready to start participating more activities outside your home."
"He is certainly further along with his physical therapy, as well as occupational therapy," Davis added in, while Scarlett nodded her agreement.
"It may be the small things at first, such as going to a park or the grocery store, but we honestly feel that it is time for him to get out more," Druthers smiled reassuringly at the DeSoto's.
"John will still need his wheelchair for longer trips, but he is ready to start using his walker more. It may take a bit for his strength to return and for him to be able to walk through the store, but I do believe he is ready."
Scarlett took over for Davis and confirmed this, "With what Doctor Early said, now is the time to start pushing a bit more. No one will know how much Johnny can do until then."
Looking at one another, Roy and Jo communicated silently.
"Okay," Roy breathed out finally. "Just tell us what we can do."
"Right now, we start out slow, since he isn't used to being a large city, especially since technology has changed so much since he was a child," Dr. Druthers cautioned. "One of the items we discuss a lot and Johnny has trouble with is grasping the difference between life today and then."
"We've noticed that," Jo admitted.
Roy was a bit shocked, he realized that there were a few challenges they had to overcome regarding that, but by the look on Joanne's face, it seemed he may have missed a lot. Thinking back, Roy began to remember the first few days Johnny was home with them.
We had to more or less beg him to eat. I'd wheel him to the table and man! His expression was like that of a kid in a candy store who was told they could have it all; as if he couldn't believe all the food on the table. Recalling more, Roy got lost in the memories. I sat down next to him, spooned some food on his plate. Not a lot, just in case he didn't like it. Johnny just sat there, not moving. I could plainly see he was hungry, but it was almost as if he was…I don't know, scared? No, that can't be right can it? To eat. But, then after encouraging him, he inhaled it like he was starving or afraid it'd disappear. He seemed terrified when I asked if he wanted more…
The more Roy thought of those early days, the more he realized just how much he didn't see. From how Johnny would flinch at loud noises from cars passing by, to not speaking much expect to Jenny or on a good day, Chris. Even at the hospital, having certain foods were a novel concept. Shaking off the racing thoughts, he came back into the conversation.
"I just didn't realize how much it was an issue," Roy acknowledged, guilt lacing his words.
"You also had a lot of other things to deal with," Joe pointed out.
Karl faced Roy head on, "And you have been dealing, quite well I might add, with the other major issue Johnny has dealt with. All the consequences he faces dealing with the actions of what happened after his parents died. That is huge. Even though I haven't met with him today, Joe had to share the news that Johnny finally got involved in family activities. I honestly doubt that if it wasn't for you and your family, Johnny wouldn't be coping as well emotionally with this situation."
Sighing, Roy nodded, "I guess I realize that here," he pointed to his head, then pointed to his heart. "But in here, it's still hard."
"That's because you care about him, honey," Joanne softly said.
Glancing at the clock, Roy cleared his throat, "I promised Johnny we won't be gone long, so maybe we should talk about what is going to happen next?"
Realizing his need to break away from the subject, everyone gathered their own personal notes.
"Well, on my end, it's more or less what we decided when John left the hospital," Doctor Early began. "We just do a CT Scan every few weeks. Once the bruises are gone, we will likely do another three weeks down the line, then four weeks. We will have you guys bring Johnny in for a check-up every three weeks, although I do want to see him after he is off the medications for a day. I'll give you notes on how to slowly reduce the meds and what to look for."
Nodding, Roy and Joanne noted this down on the notebook they had brought along.
Doctor Druthers smiled, and shrugged, "I honestly believe your family is doing fine. We'll keep seeing the kids twice a week or less often if they wish. Same with you. I'd still like to meet with Johnny whenever he comes in for his therapy, even if the sessions are short or during the therapy."
"For me, I want to work on having him go out in the real world," Scarlett said, then seeing the confusion, explained further. "I'll go with you and your family to the park, just to kind of see how John does. By seeing him outside the constraints of the rehabilitation area, it will give me a better idea how I can help him. We can also work on him learning to do some simple chores that all kids do, like put away their clothes. Anything else would depend on how well he does and if he is able to do more."
"I will be going with you, but most of the work will still be done here. In about another week or so, I honestly don't believe Johnny will need me anymore as he knows how to transfer to his wheelchair and use the walker. Scarlett can work with him if, or when, he can use something other than those," Davis reported.
Horrified by the fact it seemed the group working with Johnny was giving up, Roy closed his eyes. A white hot ball of energy was tightening in his stomach. Desperately, he tried to contain it.
"You sound like you all are giving up on him! As if won't get any better!" Roy spat out in between clenched teeth. "Even Early said the bruises are still healing! Until then, how on earth do you know that this is all that John is capable?"
Joanne was shocked at the anger emanating from her husband. On one hand, she wanted to restrain him, but the larger part of her was cheering him on. Huffing, she folded her arms across her chest in anger and glared at each person.
Hastily, Joe and Karl went to correct Roy and Jo.
"Look, we are not giving up on him. Far from it," Druthers assured them both. "What we have to do is realize what Johnny is capable of right now. Once Johnny shows that he is capable emotionally and physically of doing more, we all will try to see what more he can accomplish. On the other hand, we do have to be realistic. This is a serious injury and full recovery may or may not be possible. If we prepare for the worst now and accept what is, whatever may come next will be easier to deal with."
Sighing, Roy unclenched his fist, still upset.
Joe came over and laid his hand on his shoulder, "I understand this is beyond difficult. If I could, I'd do anything to fix it, but I can't. I want the old John back as well, but we just have to be patient."
"I know," Roy said, his heart heavy. "I'm sorry, it's just, this really sucks, you know?"
"I know," Joe said, watching as Joanne laid her head on her husband's shoulder.
Sighing again, Roy stood up and held the door open for Jo.
"Guess we'll see you soon," he said dejectedly.
Nodding, Joe waited until he was out the door and then turned to Karl.
"He is actually doing fairly well, Joe," Karl assured him. "The family all has their moments, which is to be expected, but they are doing well. Better than I ever expected."
Nodding, Joe turned to look out the office door, a troubled expression on his face.
