"If you two have a bit of time before you need to leave, I can go over the results with you," Dr. Early told Joanne and Roy.

Glancing at her gold plated watch with a red leather-like band, Joanne noted it was almost three in the afternoon.

"We have some time. Our neighbor is picking up the kids at the bus stop, but I did tell her we would be home by 4:00," Joanne explained.

Nodding, Dr. Early asked for a minute as he went to the ICU monitoring desk to speak with Nurse Fritz.

"Maggie?"

"Yes, Doctor?" Nurse Fritz looked up from the charts she was going over. Shift change may have been three hours away, but to her, it was fast approaching. As one of two head nurses of working the day shift on the ICU ward, she needed to ensure everything was in order and the paperwork seemed endless.

"I was hoping that you would take over Johnny's case, at least until the new shift arrived. I have some special instructions that I would like carried out. If you can't, if you could let me know of someone who could..."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't mind," she told him. Maggie's own brother was a firefighter in San Diego, so she had a special place in her heart for firefighters. "I can always work on the charts later or have Sara help me out."

"Thanks. Right now, he is having some mood swings and is confused about what is going on, where he is. He still believes he is seven years old and he doesn't realize that he lives in California. I don't want anyone to mention that to him. I doubt he'll ask, but if he does, either page me or Dr. Brackett. I will be on shift until midnight tonight and on-call after that. Brackett has the night shift tonight, so he will be coming in at eleven. I have my home phone listed on the charts, just in case anything comes up. Don't hesitate to call with any problems," Dr. Early emphasized.

"I would like to keep the vital checks every half hour up until 10 tonight. Then, reduce them to every hour. It will likely be hard so wake him gently, give him a chance to figure out he's in a hospital, prompt him if needed. It will help if you let him know who you are, that everything is fine and also, it will help if everything is explained right before you do so," after this, Doctor Early signs Johnny's chart and adds one more instruction. "On there is an order for 1 mg of morphine and for dexmedetomidine administered at .06 mcg/kg via his IV every hour. If you feel it isn't helping his anxiety, let me know. Right now, I would just like him to sleep in between the vital checks. Reduce the dosage to .04 mg/kg at 6:00 am.

"He will need blood work again around," looking at his watch, Dr. Early calculated the time. "Eight tonight. Call Dixie or I up before doing so and one of us will take care of it. If there is any problems at all, and I do mean anything, even if he is just acting out or things are difficult for you or the nurse who takes over, give Dixie or me a call, alright?"

"I got it all. I'll take good care of him and I will make sure the night staff knows as well. I'll even hand-pick out the nurse to take care of him," Maggie teased him a bit, but as she held out her copious notes that had been taken, Dr. Early knew Johnny was in the best hands possible.

"Thank you," Dr. Early flashed her a grateful smile. "Well, Roy, Joanne, should we go to the lounge real quick? It's much more comfortable and private area. I can let you know what I know now and what we can do to prepare."

"Sure, doc, lead the way," Roy said, taking Joanne's hand in his for comfort.

Following Dr. Early, both Joanne and Roy were filled with questions about how much had changed since they had met with him just before going to see Johnny. Joanne was in the dark even more so than Roy about what could possibly be different. Roy however, knew enough to know head injuries didn't always follow set patterns and could change in a moment's notice. He just wished he knew what had changed as it seemed to him that not much had changed, except for the fact that Johnny was more alert and aware.

Yes, he seems more frustrated than before, Roy acknowledged. But since he IS more awake, he is likely finally feeling the pain of his injuries finally. Who wouldn't be frustrated and upset about that, especially if they couldn't remember how it happened. He also finally remembered his parents aren't here because they're dead. That cannot be easy to deal with either. When my dad died, I took out my anger on other people, even though they didn't deserve it, and I was a teenager. Considering Johnny's mindset has him believing he is seven, which has to be even harder for him to accept.

Shaking himself from his musing, Roy found himself in the surgical doctor's lounge before he realized it. Pulling out a chair for Jo before sitting down himself, he mentally braced himself.

"So, what has changed between what you told us before we saw Johnny and after?" Roy bluntly asked.

"I am not sure if you noticed or not, but when I asked Johnny to answer my question as to how many fingers were held up and to follow my fingers, not only did it take a couple of seconds longer than it should have for him to do so, he also had difficulty with it as well. This does raise a bit of concern as when Johnny was asked the basic questions about his age, the date and such, his reaction time was also slower than it should have been. I had hoped that it was due to just being taken off the vent and having some traces of sedation left in his system, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At this point, it is reasonable to assume that it's likely caused by the head injury. Whether it is temporary or not remains to be seen."

Glancing at Joanne, Roy ran his hand over his face.

"No, neither of us noticed. I think we were both more worried about other things. Could it mean anything else, like an after effect from surgery?" Roy asked, grasping at straws.

"Unfortunately, it is very unlikely. You have to look at the positives though. This could very well just be a side effect of the injury and with time, Johnny's reaction times could speed up or even become normal again."

"Or it might not," Roy stated grimly. Faced with this new information, he felt overwhelmed and wondered just how long of a recovery period Johnny might be facing. Or if those in his life would actually have to accept this as the new reality. No matter what though, his resolve was firm: somehow, he'd help find a way to get Johnny though this.

"Roy," Joanne snapped at him, breaking into his depressing thoughts. "Those types of thoughts won't help anyone, least of all Johnny."

"She's right, and we have to focus on the positives. He is alive and at least he can talk, move and function. The rest can eventually be dealt with," Dr. Early pointed out. "Johnny does have some muscle weakness, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. With some physical therapy, and again, time, it should help. He will eventually need therapy for his ankle and legs anyway. I'll set up an appointment with a physical therapist in a couple days, but honestly, right now, I want to wait a bit. The first is due to the fact he needs to recover from the surgery. He will require a lot of sleep and rest.

"The second reason is that I don't want to overwhelm him. As you two saw, he is fragile emotionally and the smallest thing can set him off. I'd much rather work on helping him gain some stability there. Also, as the contusions heal, hopefully things will settle down and get back to normal. In the meantime, I have a psychologist in mind I would like him to see. I'm going to wait until later tomorrow to introduce them. His name is Doctor Druthers and works with families a lot of the time. I couldn't get the doctor who has worked with cases like Johnny's as he is backed-logged right now, but Doctor Druthers is very good and is willing to work with all five of you.

"Starting tomorrow, I'd like each of you to come in and spend at least forty-five minutes, if not a full hour each time talking to Doctor Druthers by yourselves. I know it is a lot to ask, but for the next three days, I want to have a commitment that all of you will do so. The doctor has helped develop this plan too. After this, on the fourth day, you will again meet separately and then have an hour-long family session once the individual sessions are done, although he told me that more time has been set aside for you if needed," studying both Roy and Joanne and seeing that they were overwhelmed, he decided to remind them of a simple fact. "You do not need to do this if you think it is too much. No one will think any less of you."

Roy snapped out, "I would think less of myself! But I will make sure my family knows that this isn't something that they have to do. I may not understand what I am getting into exactly, but I do know Jo would not allow me back in the house again if I didn't at least try. This is what both of us want. This is what our kids want."

Taking over, Joanne continued, "I know our kids are young and understand even less than we do about this situation. They don't really understand that they may never understand that their 'Uncle Johnny' may never be who he was. Truth be told, it's hard for Roy and I to grasp that as well. But Roy is right, we want to try. Even if Johnny doesn't remember us, we remember him and he is part of the family. Family sticks together and is there for one another. All we can do right now is try to prepare and help out Johnny. So we appreciate your concern, but frankly, it's not needed.

"As far as how the kids will be treated in the house, Roy and I will be sure and discuss this. In fact, his whole crew stop over individually and is coming tonight as a group. Each one of them has volunteered to help out when and where possible. They wanted to let us know that no matter how long it takes, they will be there. As a matter of fact, they wanted to talk to whatever doctor we would end up needing to talk to so that they would know how best to support our family."

Blinking his eyes in amazement, Dr. Early became speechless for a bit.

"So, doc, what do you think?" Roy asked, a bit smug.

"I have to admit, that if you can keep up this attitude and continue to get this kind of help, you might make it. I'll be sure to let Doctor Druthers know about your crew wanting to learn. It might be best if they visit the New Dawn Adult Care Home, as that is one place I want all of you to visit while Johnny is here. They have a few adults there with brain injuries. Unfortunately, they aren't as lucky as Johnny, but the people do have some similar issues, just to a worse degree. The care takers can also give you some tips and information on how best to help Johnny if, or when, things heal.

"I will want both you and Joanne to visit daily. Let him get to know about the both of you again, tell him about how you two met, your kids, family life. Tell him about your work Roy. I hate to put this on you, but since you know him best, it may be up to you to answer some of his questions, such as why hasn't his aunt taken him in. You need to be prepared for that since he may not be willing to open up to others yet and may only ask you two. Dr. Druthers can help you out of course and both him and I know that Johnny may not open up to him.

"If that is the case, we may ask one of you two to sit in on his sessions to help him feel more comfortable. I am sure your kids miss him, but wait a two or three days, then start introducing the idea of meeting your kids, see how he reacts. If he reacts well, than I say that we allow them to see one another. However, you will have to make sure both Chris and Jenny know not to call him 'Uncle'. You can wait to bring it up with Dr. Druthers if that helps. I can certainly understand that.

"Finally, if you are set in bringing him home with you to recover, you might need to take down pictures of him with your family or him when he is older. It all depends on how he reacts to seeing himself, which will be when Doctor Druthers feels he is ready. Maybe bring some items over that have special meaning to him from his apartment or something to help him out if you know he had them as a child. It would also be a good idea to have him near your bedroom just in case, if possible. Be patient, but don't allow him to do whatever he wants. Let him know if something isn't acceptable. The most important thing though is just to take things slow and not to expect too much."

"Thanks, doc," Roy stood up and shook Dr. Early's hand. "If you'll excuse us, we have to get going home. We promised to be home for supper. I'll be sure to be here after the kids leave for school in the morning."

"I'll be sure to visit for a bit in the afternoon after I drop the kids off and do some errands. Call us though if you need us for anything," Joanne added as they left the lounge and headed out of the hospital.