Curious as to why Doctor Brackett wanted to meet with him about Johnny, Roy decided to leave his home early.
I wonder if he finally figured out what's going on with Johnny, Roy thought. I hope so. I'd sure like to know myself. I got to admit, I'm getting tired of being pushed away and I know Jo and the kids missing seeing him. I'm not sure how much longer I can convince them that's its best just to give him some time and space, especially since Johnny is back at work again. It'd definitely be good to have my old partner back at work instead of the short-tempered one as well.
Entering the hospital, Roy saw Captain Stanley and Johnny enter Doctor Brackett's office. Even more eager to know what was going on, he headed there, knocking on the door that was partway open.
"Come on in," Kel smiled at him, shutting the door behind him and motioning to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Thanks for coming in on such short notice."
"No problem. I know you said something important came up and well…" trailing off, Roy wasn't sure what to say as he didn't want to give away the fact he had thought that the meeting would be about possibly confronting Johnny.
"I'm sure you're a bit confused about the why. Johnny, would you like to explain things?" Doctor Brackett asked.
Shaking his head no, John began shifting even more on the couch, trying not to scratch his legs.
Yeah, I'm really going to spill my guts, doc, he thought sarcastically. I barely managed to get this far in, I really don't think I anymore left so that Roy can see just how messed up I am.
Seeing how nervous Johnny was, Kel nodded toward Hank, who sat next to Johnny. Laying a hand briefly on his shoulder, Johnny looked up at his Cap's gesture and understood that the two of them were there for him.
"Let's just get this over with," Johnny mumbled.
"From what I've heard from your Captain, you know something hasn't been quite right with Johnny," Brackett began and then continued when he saw Roy nodded. "The reason behind his moodiness, trying to distance himself and not having the same amount of patience as he usually does is due to two reasons. One is the fact that he isn't dealing as well with the actions of the arsonists and how people react afterward. It is similar to a post-traumatic, but I'm hopeful that it will be short-term."
Seeing that Roy was nodding and taking everything in, Kel took a breath and dropped the other news, "The second issues, and again, I'm hoping it will be short-term is that the main way Johnny is dealing with the problems is by cutting, or self-harming."
"Wait, what?" Roy asked, confused.
Looking at his best friend, he asked again, "What's the doc saying, Johnny?"
Shrugging, Johnny hated how Roy looked at him. It was like he didn't recognize him anymore or believe what was happening.
G-d, my skin is getting way too tight, I gotta get outta here so I can breathe, Johnny thought, as he jumped up from his seat and slammed the door on his way out.
Hank rose to go after him, as did Roy, but Kel stopped both of them.
"Just hang on, I'm not too surprised this happened," Doctor Brackett told them. "I already told Dixie to watch out for him just in case, okay?"
Seeing both of them nod, he turned to answer Roy's question.
"Now, Roy, I believe you wanted to know what I meant by the fact Johnny is self-harming?" Kel asked. Seeing Roy nod, Kel continued, "What I mean is that when things get too hectic in Johnny's mind or when things get too intense or too overwhelming, Johnny has been picking up a razor blade and cutting his leg with it."
Wincing at the image, Roy simply asked, "Why?"
"From what I've learned just by talking to him in the last couple days, it helps stop the random thoughts and rapid thinking. It's a coping skill, a negative one just like drinking or smoking or drugs, but still a coping skill," the doctor explained. "I'm working on, first of all, figuring out why he started and we have more or less done that. Then, we are going to work on finding better coping skills. One of them was possibly calling you if Johnny was having issues and felt the urge to cut. Even if he didn't talk about what was bothering him, just talking to a friend would be helpful. Of course, that's only if you're willing."
Blinking rapidly and trying to take all this in, Roy answered as soon as he could that he'd be more than willing.
"But what set this off? And can he still work? What about the fact that he's on his own? To me, that seems, well, a bit dangerous right now considering," Roy listed off his concerns.
Smiling slightly and glancing towards Hank, Doctor Brackett reassured Roy, "First of all, right now, he is officially off work for medical reasons. I have it listed as related to the injuries sustained before he went back to work last shift and as long as Johnny continues doing well with just talking with me about this, I see no reason to change that. If, however, something were to happen, well, unfortunately, then things would get complicated.
"As to him being alone, that's why Hank is here. I guess your Captain was worried and went to check on him. When he found Johnny, he had cut quite a bit, so Hank brought him here and told me what was going on as far as he knew. I didn't want Johnny alone and Hank called his wife, so right now, he's staying with the Stanleys. I plan on visiting there or going somewhere to talk every day possible with Johnny."
"What can I do?" wondered Roy.
"Just be there and be his friend," Hank spoke up. "I'd say just treat him like you normally do when he has something bugging him."
Looking towards Kel, Roy saw him nod.
Sighing, Roy sat back a bit, "I can do that."
"I think between us three and Dixie, we can get him through this crisis," Kel said.
"Oh, I wanted to ask," Hank interrupted. "How'd this morning go?"
"It went better than expected. Hopefully, within a couple days the police should know who to look for and where."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Roy asked, befuddled.
"It turns out that the sketch John saw at the Station triggered a memory of a victim you two treated. It wasn't the same person, but I guess they two were very similar," Hank explained.
Picking up where Hank left off, Kel explained further, "It turns out that the last victim Johnny helped before he got injured is likely the son of the person in the police sketch. Based on what Johnny remembered, we got a name and hopefully, the address is correct as well."
Shocked, Roy smiled, "Way to go, Junior."
"Yeah, it is good news," Doctor Brackett smiled. "It is also helping a bit in terms of giving Johnny some control back that he desperately needed."
"I guess us fireman could be considered somewhat control freaks," Roy sheepishly admitted.
Scoffing, Kel just ask, "Well, should we go see where Johnny went off to?"
Nodding their agreement, Hank and Roy proceeded Doctor Brackett out the door and to the private lounge that he directed them towards.