(8:47pm) 3 hour and 9 minutes later…

Melbourne – Hospital – Doctor Murry's Office

"So, John, what do you think we are dealing with here?" Doctor Patrick Murry asks the head of Neurology.

"Well from what you've described and looking at the scans, I think it's safe to say that it's a combination of PTE and a TBI." Doctor John Williamson replies to his colleague.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am. He is having seizures which yes is normal when suffering with a TBI, but the memory loss is too extensive for it to be just from the seizures alone. You even said that only a day or two before the young man had suffered a blow to the head while having an altercation with another person then you take into account that he more than likely hit his head, which was already injured in the accident it certainly makes my diagnosis more accurate."

Sighing and running his fingers through his hair, Patrick stands up: "I guess we better tell the patient and his family."

"I think we should." John agrees.

(9:07pm) 20 minutes later…

Melbourne – Hospital – ICU – Kyle's Room

"So, I was right then?" Tamara says, breaking the silence first.

"Yes, in this situation you were but as I said earlier please don't use google to research people's symptoms." Doctor Murry reminds her.

Looking at the two doctors who had just told them what was wrong with Kyle, Brax asks: "So what happens now?"

"Well as I understand you've already been made aware of what PTE is."

"Yes, Dr Murry already explained that one."

"Right a TBI basically stands for Traumatic Brain Injury, now there is many different types some are primary and some are secondary, but it appears that Kyle is suffering from a coup-contrecoup injury which is when the brain becomes bruised, this what is called a primary injury to the brain. Now it's more than likely that if he had not hit his head less than 24 hours before the accident we might not be in this situation now, however if you take a previous head injury and then become involved in a car accident in which the head is propelled forward and accelerated and then moved back in deceleration before you even hit it on anything then the chances of developing a TBI becomes greater."

Heath now feels like it's time to put his own two pence worth into the conversation: "So your saying if out brother hadn't been pushed causing him to hit his head of a concrete floor there was a greater chance this might not have happened?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. As I said there are two categories which the type of brain injury falls into now in most brain injuries they are comprised of a mix of both primary and secondary injuries." Doctor Williamson pauses to make sure that everyone was still listening to him "Now the blow to the head that Kyle suffered when he was pushed is what is causing the secondary injury, now I believe he is suffering from Second Impact Syndrome which is an extremely rare outcome where death or severe neurologic injury occurs when a person sustains a second concussion before symptoms from an earlier one has subsided. So, when you add both the primary and secondary injuries together and based on how severe the initial insult was, the more likely the secondary injuries will have a major effect on the patient's overall outcome."

"I feel like the more you speak Doc the more this becomes worse." Brax tells him.

"Don't worry Mr Braxton, most people with your brother's condition still manage to live a somewhat normal life."

"Somewhat?" Kyle speaks for the first time, reminding everyone that he is still in fact in the room.

"Yes somewhat, see Kyle you fall into the moderate to severe category."

"Really Kyle, you had to out do didn't you!" Casey jokes as he tries to lightening the mood which in turn causes everyone to laugh.

"Now the only issue is we can't always pinpoint whether this is just going to be long lasting, meaning it will get better or it could potentially be permeant. So, when I say somewhat, I basically mean that most people with a moderate to severe TBI face life challenges that will then require them to adapt and adjust to a new reality. A new normal way of living."

"So, your saying that everything that I would have done normally won't be the same anymore?" Kyle asks him again.

"With a moderate to severe TBI it can cause permanent physical or mental disability due to the fact that polytrauma is common with moderate to severe TBI, many patients end up having to face additional disabilities as a result of other injuries. So, things like work and completing tasks that were once routine can be much more difficult than before the injury. Some patients find that the skills and abilities that they used before the injury to meet these challenges are not as sharp as they once were."

"I play a guitar, so in your words you're basically saying that I can't do that anymore."

"No Kyle, I said for some patients they can find skills and abilities that they used to have aren't as sharp after the injury, but that is certainly not the case for everyone." Doctor Williamson repeats himself.

"Get out." Kyle suddenly says to them all.

"Kyle, we can get through this." Heath tells his younger brother.

"I SAID GET OUT NOW!" Kyle yells at them all "JUST GET OUT!"

With that everyone quickly gets up and exits the room, leaving Kyle to rack his mind around what he had just been told.

(9:48pm) 41 minutes later…

Melbourne – Hospital – ICU – Outside Kyle's Room

Once everyone was out the room their faces drop the positive expressions they had shown in front of Kyle, to heartbroken.

"Doc, is there anything else we should know about this condition?" Brax asks "Just I think we should know the facts and I mean all the facts."

"Yes there is, but personally don't feel discussing it in the hallway but you all won't be able to fit in my office." Doctor Williamson informs them.

"What about my hospital room then?" Casey suggests "It's not a hallway and it will definitely fit us all in."

"Ok then we will discuss it there." They all nod in agreement.

With that they all head towards Casey's hospital room.