While Joanne attended the session with the psychologist, Roy went back to the ICU to sit with Johnny. Opening his copy of The Day of the Jackal, he prepared himself to wait. However, despite the appeal of the novel, Roy found his mind wandering more often than he desired. Too many questions were swirling about in his mind and knowing that the answers to them were out of reach at the moment wasn't helping.
"Hi, how you holding up?" Dixie asked, entering as softly as possible so as not to disturb Johnny.
To say he was grateful for the interruption from morose thoughts was an understatement.
"Alright," Roy replied, shrugging.
Arching an eyebrow at him, Dixie gently brushed Johnny's hair from his eyes.
Or at least what's left of his hair. We definitely need to fix your hair so it doesn't resemble a Barbie doll that some kid took their scissors to so much.
"It's hard, seeing him like this and knowing I can't do nothing," Roy gave in and confessed. He knew all too well Dixie would eventually get him to talk. "Even with all the medications, Johnny's still restless and seems to be fighting something. Then, not knowing what will happen is just plain, well terrifying. And I cannot even begin to imagine what he must be going through."
"You are doing something though," Dix pointed out. "You're here and your entire family is fighting for him. That is huge."
Unable to figure out a good response, Roy just shrugged.
"He's family. How are you holding up?"
"So, so I guess," was the answer with a quiver in the voice. "Like you, I hate what happened and I wish I wasn't so helpless."
Clearing her throat from a sudden rush of emotions, Dix glanced at her watch.
"I should get going, my break is almost over. If you need anything, just call or come down."
"Actually, do you think you could ask Doc if he can get the records from when Johnny umm, lost his parents?" Roy hesitantly asked. "I already asked his aunt to send me what she has and to write down what she knows, but I don't know if she knows the whole story, you know? And normally, I wouldn't pry, but…"
"I think in this case, it might help," she said softly. "I'll be sure to ask him. You'll probably have to sign some paperwork, but he should be able to get it."
"Thanks."
"Not a problem," Dix said as she straighten the covers of Johnny's bed and fussed over him a bit more before heading to the door. "Remember, call if you need anything."
Smiling slightly, Roy assured her he would. With once last glance at Johnny and a nod towards Roy, Dixie left the ICU cubicle.
With Dixie gone, Roy attempted to get back into his book, but it was a fruitless effort. Instead, he spent his time staring blankly out the window, desperately trying to avoid thoughts. However, Johnny soon started becoming even more restless than before. Despite the heavy drugs coursing through his system, he tried moving about, almost as though he was locked in a nightmare and was struggling to emerge.
Immediately, Roy went to his side and grabbed on to the hand that seemed to be seeking some sort of comfort. The groaning that had begun to soften slightly as the movements ceased in frequency.
"Shhh, Junior, it's okay. Everything is okay. Just relax and try not to move. Everything is fine," Roy soothed.
Coming in the middle of this, Jo quickly went to the other side and held onto Johnny's other hand.
Speaking quietly, she asked, "Do you want to get the nurse?"
"Yeah, I think his meds are wearing off again," he said. "It seems like he might be developing a bit of a tolerance for them."
Within a minute of the call button being pushed, Nurse Northstrom entered. Seeing Johnny fidgeting despite Roy's attempts to calm him down, she quickly deduced the problem.
"Time for his medication?"
"Yeah, like I mentioned to Jo, I think he seemed to be developing a bit of a tolerance to them," Roy informed her.
Glancing at Johnny's chart and then her watch, she informed him, "Considering the time frame between medications, he is just a bit shy of needing them. I will let Doctor Swarl know however. He should be here shortly as I saw him on the floor heading to another patient's room. If you'll excuse me Mrs. DeSoto, I just need to get his vital signs."
"Oh, certainly nurse. Sorry," she said, caught off guard slightly. "And please, call me Joanne, or Jo."
Smiling, the nurse said, "Don't worry and please, call me Cindy."
Quickly taking the vital signs, Cindy noted them down on the medical chart.
"How's his b.p.?" asked Roy.
"It's better. Not a lot," she confessed. "However, it is going down."
Both Jo and Roy let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that every hour his blood pressure continued going down only meant a better chance of a good outcome and less effects from the brain injury, both were hopeful that there would be no more setbacks like the night before.
"Good afternoon," a man standing about five inches shorter than Roy's six foot, one inch height with dark red hair and green eyes.
Must be the other neuro doc, Roy summarized, knowing he had never met the man before.
"Doctor Swarl?" cautiously asked Roy.
"Yes, sorry, I tend to forget to introduce myself," the doctor smiled, holding out his hand.
Getting the vital signs from Nurse Northstrom, he looked at the monitors displaying Johnny's heart rate. Going over the chart, he noticed the concerns about the possibilities of a tolerance to the diazepam.
"Let me give Mr. Gage a quick look over and then we can go over some of the questions you two might have."
"Johnny," Jo said. "He hates being called Mr. Gage, always said it makes him feel old."
Smiling, the doctor listened to Johnny's heart and lungs before checking his pupils for dilation. Doctor Swarl then took his reflex hammer out of his lab coat to check Johnny's various reflexes before flipping the hammer over to see how his non-casted foot to check the Babinski response. Thankfully, that was negative. Concluding his exam, Doctor Swarl asked the nurse to go ahead with the normal dosage of diazepam and dexmedetomidine. Sitting down on the chair he had brought in, he faced the DeSoto's.
"So far, things are progressing fairly well, despite the setback he had last night," he informed them. "Ideally, we would like Johnny's blood pressure to go down further faster, however, everyone does heal at their own pace and at least it is going down. As long as that trend continues, all we as doctors can really do is wait and watch for changes.
"X-ray's will continue to be taken every day or every other day if possible as we really don't want to subject him to too many of those considering the length of time it will likely take for the bruises to heal. On the other hand, considering we do need to monitor the swelling and ensure that the bruising doesn't result in other damages, such as more bleeding, we may not have a choice but to schedule Johnny for skull series daily. Of course, if his blood pressure goes up again, than we will have to change our course of treatment.
"Hopefully, by keeping him sedated until the swelling goes down to the point where it is almost non-existent, it will help a great deal in healing. Not just the head injury, but his other injuries as well. As far as the age regression, well, honestly, considering Doctor Early is Johnny's doctor and I have never dealt with this condition before, I'd rather leave that area up to him. He will be able to guide you better than almost any other neurologist, especially since all of you know each other.
"Johnny's reflexes are looking fine considering where he is at right now. His heart is strong. I do have some concerns about his lungs, as they are starting to sound congested. I am sure you were made aware that it isn't uncommon for patients to develop lung infections or pneumonia after surgery or when they are on bed rest like this?" Doctor Swarl asked. Seeing Roy and Joanne nod that they did, he continued.
"I am going to consult with Doctor Brackett as to what antibiotic will be the best one to start Johnny on. Hopefully, the infection has been caught early enough that with the antibiotic, no major problems will develop. As far as the other medication, I think right now, our best bet is to just watch him and continue the blood work to make sure the levels are within the range we would like. So far, they have been where they should, so I am not worried about Johnny developing a tolerance at this point, although this is something that do watch for anytime medications are used for this length of time. If it happens that he does develop a tolerance, there are other things we could try, but right now, let's not worry about that, okay? Do you have any questions?"
Taking a few minutes to digest the wealth of information that was given to them, Jo and Roy looked at each other in silent communication.
"Why not use the CT Scan instead of x-rays?" Roy inquired.
"Unfortunately, the CT Scan, while it is able to give us a better picture of the brain, takes a lot longer to develop the images than an x-ray. Here at Rampart, while we're lucky that we have the scanner at all since not many hospitals do considering how new the technology is, we don't have the capabilities to develop the results at this point in time. Considering that fact, we have to send out the information to another place to be developed. At times, they can get backed up as they deal with many other hospitals for developing images and therefore, it can take up to a day to get the image we want. The scanner will be used, however to check the progress once a week for a while I believe. You would need to consult with Doctor Early about that."
Glancing at her husband again, Jo took a deep breath, "What do you think are the chances Johnny will recover enough?"
Seeing the perplexed look on Dr. Swarl's face, she tried again, "Do you think he will recover from the age regression?"
"Honestly, I don't know," he said, sounding a bit sad. "I wish I could tell you, but from what I understand, there is no way to know until the brain contusions heal."
Nodding, tears formed in her eyes as it felt like more hope was taken away. Knowing it could be months before any guesses could be formed was heartbreaking. Holding onto Joanne closely, Roy thanked the doctor for his time.
"You're welcome. I'll be back to check on Johnny later this evening," he informed them as he stood up. "I truly am sorry I couldn't be of more help."
Nodding, Roy watched as he left and Cindy Northstrom entered with the medication to help Johnny. Within minutes, John was once again in a deep sleep.
Even if it is only temporary, at least Johnny can escape and find peace, Roy gratefully thought.