At quarter to three that afternoon, Roy and Joanne discussed the best plan of action for the rest of the night. After a few minutes, they felt it was best if Roy followed Joanne home and they both picked up the kids at their school so that both of them would be available to answer any questions Chris or Jennifer may have come up with during the day. The need to make sure that if a teacher needed to speak with them about any worrisome behavior was also present as Joanne had alerted the school to the situation when the accident happened. Although there had been no problems yet, Roy and Jo realized the longer the circumstances continued, the more likely that something may take place.

Roy also reasoned it would be easier to go with his kids up to Dr. Druthers office and hopefully find a way to sneak them into see Johnny. Despite the ICU not allowing kids under 15 in, often times, the nurses were willing to bend the rules for the DeSoto family. Letting Nurse Northstrom of this plan, the couple went out to the parking area to find their cars and met at home.

Taking a couple of minutes to grab a book Jenny was reading and a couple of sport magazines for Chris while she waited for Roy, Joanne noticed that someone had done a quick clean-up of her house. Glancing in the refrigerator were not only the basic groceries they had started running low on, but a bunch of meals that could be heated quickly. The freezer was packed with even more meals and some frozen treats while the counter had some baked goods.

Shaking her head, all Jo could think was, I can't even imagine what I would do without the Station 51 A shift family… I can't count how many times this has been done for our family when Roy and/or Johnny has gotten hurt.

Hearing Roy's car pull up, she quickly wiped her eyes clear and grabbed a brown paper bag which was labeled as an afternoon snack for the kids. As she entered the passenger side of the station wagon while Roy got into the driver's side, he asked what she had all picked up.

"Just some reading material for the kids in case they don't have homework or need a break," she said. "Plus, I found a bunch of food in the freeze, fridge and counters. There were a couple of bags labeled as "Kids Afternoon Snacks" so I grabbed one. I figure the person, or people, behind all the cooking, baking and whatnot knows us too well. Oh, someone also took the liberty of dusting and vacuuming the main rooms, and cleaning up the kitchen and kids baths."

Smiling, Roy asked, "What do you expect? I know the guys couldn't help out this time since they're working, so it was probably Irene, Marco's mom and Chet's mom."

"I just wish I could thank them."

Pulling up to the school, Roy looked at Joanne and asked rhetorically, "and how often have you done the same when others are injured?"

Shrugging, Jo didn't answer as the school bell rang and a mass of kids ran full tilt out of the school. It wasn't long before Chris and Jenny were hurtling themselves into the car. As soon as they were in and buckled, both began talking.

"Hold it," Roy gently commanded. "First of all, one at a time. Secondly, things are still the same as they were yesterday with your…with Johnny. I'll see if I can sneak you two in if you'd like, but you have to understand, despite the medications helping him sleep, Johnny is still restless and not all the pain is under control. He also has two black eyes from the head trauma and although he isn't bald, his hair is cut very oddly. It had to be done that way for the surgery. There are also bandages wrapped around his head right now. He also has a lot of other small bumps, bruises, burn marks and stitches. Since his ankle and foot is broken, his right foot, ankle and half-way to his knee is covered in a cast.

"Johnny is also hooked up to an oxygen mask to help his breathing. There isn't anything wrong with his lungs, it's just that because of the medications the doctors are giving him, he needs some support with his breathing. Johnny also has what is called a central line. It's similar to an IV, but it is bigger and goes in through his shoulder. The central line is being used because of the medications that need to be used and for the length of time they will need to be used. There is also an IV port so that the nurses can take blood as needed. Johnny also had a tube put down his nose last night so that his body can get the nutrition it needs."

Seeing that his kids were listening carefully and nodding through his rearview mirror, Roy continued, "since he is in the ICU, his heart is being monitored through an EKG. The nurses are also monitoring vitals every thirty minutes. Since there is only so much medication that can be given without risking Johnny's health, I've been spending a lot of time by his side as it seems to help. While you two are seeing Dr. Druthers, your mom and I would like it if you could do homework if you have any or mom picked up something for you to read while you wait. I can wait with you, or if you don't mind, I'll wait in the ICU. Your mom and I talked it over, and if you think you can handle it, we'll see about sneaking you in to see Johnny. I want you to think long and hard about if you are able to handle seeing Johnny like that though and feel free to talk it over with Dr. Druthers if you need to, alright?"

Watching as Jenny and Chris thought it over, Roy and Jo weren't at all surprised when they both said it would be fine for just their mom to wait in the outside office with them as well as that they believed they could see Johnny as he was. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that he and Joanne had snuck them in when John had been injured` and hooked up to a lot of monitors, although it had never been this bad before.

"It seems pointless to have you doing nothing, dad," Jenny told him flat out in reference to having him wait in the ICU. "I know I can just read the book I have with me."

"Same here, although I still have some homework to do. You'd just end up restless even though I'm sure you have a book. Probably the same book you bring along almost any time winds up in the hospital since you never get past the first few chapters," Chris giggled saying this.

Ignoring the comment since he couldn't deny it, Roy looked over to Joanne for help. All she did was laugh as well.

"I brought you guys a snack someone from the station packed as supper might be a bit later tonight," she told the kids, unwilling to get sucked in.

Starting the car, Roy began the drive back to the hospital.

"Once you two are finished with your sessions, I believe Dr. Druthers might talk with us a bit. Not because he will tell us what you talked about, but rather because I guess for your mom and I, we need to set an actual time, rather than dropping by as we did today. He'll go over all the privacy stuff with you, but unless it's something we need to know because it will affect our family and the care of Johnny I believe that everything remains between you and the doctor. Even if Dr. Early asks, he won't break that confidentiality. It's against the law, unless you're a danger to yourself or others."

"Cool," Chris said.

"Yea," Jenny agreed. "No offense, but it'll be kinda nice to talk to someone like that."

"I understand sweetie," Jo replied as Roy found a place to park.

"I'll head home with you guys for supper and come back to stay with Johnny for a bit, but I promise to be home by ten o'clock, ok?"

Seeing the kids nodded, Roy took a deep breath and questioned, "You two all set?"

"Yep," came the replies and with that, the family went in the main entrance and headed to Dr. Druthers office on the 8th floor.