"Roy, it appears that you've bruised the pre-frontal cortex of the brain," Dr. Early was explaining to him. Roy nodded emotionlessly as Early continued, "You've got some swelling and tenderness, which I'm certain has been the cause of your recent headaches. I'm going to keep you another day for observation, but the medication we've had you on has greatly reduced the swelling, so you should be just fine," Dr. Early assured him with a smile.
Roy looked confused. "So why am I having difficulty remembering the shooting?"
"The brain is a funny thing. Sometimes, it winks out, and other times you'll be amazed at how much you will remember. Just give it time, Roy." Dr. Early smiled. "Head injuries are strange."
Joanne pushed open the door. "I'm sorry, should I come back?" she asked as she spotted the doctor.
"No, I'm done," Dr. Early told her. "Roy, remember what I said. It's nothing to worry about. Joanne, nice to see you."
"You, too, Dr. Early."
"I'll check back in soon," Early promised, giving Joanne a reassuring pat on the arm before he left.
Joanne moved to Roy's side and kissed him.
"Hi, honey. How are you feeling?" she asked.
Roy sighed, not wanting to burden his wife with the truth. "I'm fine, Jo," he assured her.
"So what did Dr. Early say? Can you go home today?"
"No, he wants me to wait until tomorrow. But only as a precaution," Roy added quickly as he saw a worried shadow cross his wife's face. "He says I'm going to be fine."
"You don't look fine. Please tell me what's bothering you, honey," she pleaded.
"Well, I'm not really sure, but…I think…" He hesitated, unsure of how his wife might take his confession. "Joanne, I was the one who hurt Johnny. I shot him."
Joanne inhaled sharply. Roy couldn't bear her stricken face and rolled over so he wouldn't have to face her. Joanne pulled him back. "Honey, you can't be right about this. You would never hurt Johnny."
"I didn't mean to," Roy explained anxiously. "I saw the gun in front of me, so I grabbed it, and I guess it went off somehow."
"You don't remember actually shooting him?"
Roy shook his head miserably. "But I had to be the one who did it. I had the gun."
"The police would have said something if you'd been the one who shot him," Joanne told him. "And they found the gun on the guy who kidnapped you.
"He must have grabbed it back," Roy guessed. "I had that gun in my hand, Joanne. And the next thing I know Johnny's lying on the ground."
Joanne took him by the hands, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Roy, you did not do this. You could never hurt someone like that, especially Johnny."
"I don't know, Jo," he muttered with a shake of his head. He rubbed the tender spot on his temple as he looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I just don't know."
******
"Good, you're still here," Brackett said as he entered Roy's room and spotted Roy, Joanne and Hank. "I thought maybe you'd left already."
"I wanted to wait until we heard something about Johnny," Roy explained. "Is the surgery over?"
Brackett nodded.
"Doc, how did it come out?" Hank asked.
"Well, we were able to get the bullet out safely and repaired a great deal of the damage," Brackett informed them, glancing away as Roy caught his eye. "However, his injuries were more extensive than we thought. Dr. Hayes was able to reconstruct the vertebrae, but there was nerve damage, too. We're not sure yet how extensive that is. The good news is, he will be able to breathe on his own again. But we don't know how much more function he'll have. We have to wait until the swelling goes down some more before we can find that out."
"The paralysis…will he…?" Roy faltered. His mind refused to believe his best friend would never walk again. "I mean, this is temporary, right?"
Brackett finally looked directly at Roy. "We don't believe he'll regain complete function," he said heavily. Roy simply stared at him. Brackett continued. "The damage occurred about on the C4 vertebrae level. That's why we can take him off the ventilator. He'll be able to swallow. After the swelling goes down, we believe that he'll be able to move his shoulders and some upper arm muscles. Maybe we'll see a little hand movement." Brackett placed his hand on Roy's shoulder.
Roy heard the words, but he wasn't sure he was listening. This can't be happening. This nightmare is just getting worse!
Stanley cleared his throat. "Well, Doc, we know you've done everything you can. We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out." He hefted Roy's bag onto his shoulder as Joanne started to wheel Roy out of the room.
"When can I see him?" Roy inquired with a whisper.
"Let's get him out of recovery and then I'll let you in," said Brackett. His eyes locked again with Roy's, and Roy could see Brackett's empathy and compassion. Don't feel sorry for me. I'm able to walk away from what happened. Thanks to me, Johnny may never have that chance.