As the EKG was being run and the medications were allowed to wear off, Roy and Joanne took turns pacing around the ICU waiting room. There wasn't much for them to do after eating a quick lunch and neither of them could concentrate on the reading materials they had brought along. When Karl came out by them, they were disappointed when he

"I can see how stressful this is for you two and frankly, I am a bit concerned," he told them point blank. "I realize that somehow us doctors somehow overlooked telling you that this was a possibility. If you'd like, we can discuss it now."

Sighing, Roy looked at Joanne and nodded his consent.

"Truth be told, I just didn't want to think about this happening," Roy admitted. "In training and our refresher courses, we're told this is something we have to watch out for after a head injury, but since it hadn't taken place, I guess I assumed it was unlikely. I mean, from what I know, seizures happen within the first couple days and Johnny seemed to be past that danger point."

Shocked, Joanne wasn't sure what to say. Gathering her thoughts, she slowly said, "I can't really blame anyone for not telling us. At least Doctor Early and the nurses were watching out for the chance it could happen. And with everything else going on, well, I'm not a medical professional, but it seems like there were a lot more important things to worry about and watch for, right?"

"True," Karl said. "That still doesn't mean that you shouldn't have been told and we are sorry about that. Unfortunately, it does happen, especially when you have a case like Johnny's were so many things are going on."

"So, what happens now?" Roy asked. "I know you probably can't tell us if another seizure is likely since that's Dr. Early's field, but, well… I guess I feel kind of lost with what happens next."

"And how do we explain what happened to Johnny?" Joanne added. "Do we even tell him?"

Hesitating, Doctor Druthers thought it over before answering, "I think if he asks what happens, you should tell him. Otherwise, wait a bit. As far as how to tell him… I have to be honest and say, other than putting it in simple terms, I don't know. Right now, we still aren't sure how much John is able to process and understand, so it may take a while and a few tries for him to understand what happens.

"I'm more than willing to help, as I am sure Dr. Early is, but I think you and Roy need to be the ones who take the lead. Johnny needs to learn to turn to you for help and know that you two are safe, that you are someone who will be there for him even in through all the confusion going on," Dr. Druthers explained.

"How will we know if Johnny is understanding what we are telling him?" Joanne asked worriedly. "I mean, he may say he does, but I've had that issue with my own kids saying they get something and still being confused."

"That's why Dr. Early is running all these tests," Karl assured Jo and Roy. "It will give him a baseline reading today as to where John is at mentally and physically. There is a bit of a complication with it though…"

At the hesitation, Roy spoke up in dread, "What is it?"

"From what we know, Johnny was raised on a reservation. That right there means we don't know if he will understand what a typical kid his age should."

"I don't understand," Jo's eyebrows wrinkled. "I mean, yes, he was likely taught different beliefs, but beyond that, how different could things be?"

"A lot different," Roy said. "I don't know much about Johnny's past, but the bits and pieces I've picked up, he seemed to be, I don't know, sheltered? a lot. Although I'm not sure that's the right word. It seems almost as if...well, the best way I can describe it, is when I've told him things about my childhood, he gets this look of wonder or whatever on his face."

"Exactly," Dr. Druthers said. "We don't know if he was exposed to the same type of things or situations as a child outside of a reservation. Already, we know he has trust issues and difficulty believing that people are willing to help him just due to his mixed parentage, at least when he was the age he believes he is right now."

Sighing, Roy shook his head, "Has anything come from his hometown yet so we know more about what we are dealing with?"

Spotting Johnny's nurse, Dr. Druthers nodded towards her before answering Roy, "No, although Kel has talked to them a few times, they refuse to give up any information unless Johnny or his legal guardian requests the information. Since you two now have the forms completed, Doctor Brackett is going to fax them again. Hopefully, within a day or so, we'll have some information about John's background that will help us out.

"But anyway, right now, it appears Johnny is starting to wake-up, so why don't we head inside. Once he's fully awake, Dr. Early will finish up the tests he needs to run."

"How often will he need to run these tests?" Roy asked.

"Every three days or so, I believe," Karl said. "It will help him keep track of how the brain is healing. After a couple weeks, Joe said that the only evaluations that will take place than are ones that are required to track his rehabilitation therapy."

Giving a weak smile, Jo mentally rolled her eyes.

Johnny always hated doing any kind of rehab work after getting casts off or injuries healed enough for him to go. The only reason he worked so hard was because he wanted to get back to work so badly, Roy worried to himself. How on earth are we going to convince him now to push himself when he doesn't have that motivation? Isn't he going to think we're just being cruel considering the pain he will go through? I just hope we can find a way to see him through this.

As if sensing their thoughts, Dr. Druthers stopped them before they could step into the cubicle where Johnny was starting to move around.

"I know you two might be concerned about how we will get Johnny through the rehabilitation part of this, but between doctors Early and Brackett, as well as myself and the head of the program, we will figure out who will work best with him, not to mention for him. Somehow, we will find a way to get him through it and make it as fun and painless as possible, okay," he promised.

Joanne gripped Roy's hand and nodded. Taking a deep breath, Roy gave a short nod and stepped inside the cubicle. Taking Johnny's hand, Roy began talking to him and noticed him start to calm down almost immediately.

"Amazing," Karl breathed out.

Smiling, Jo shook her head, "Those two just have a bond. I never could understand it myself, but I know they would be lost without one another. When this happened, I was worried about Roy, but for some reason, the bond is still there. Johnny may not remember us or feel comfortable around most of us, but that connection those two have is still there. I have a feeling without it, Johnny would be worse off mentally."

"It's very likely," Doctor Druthers admitted, still amazed. "Now I understand why the doctors are okay with you two being here so much. Speaking of which, I'm going to go hunt down Dr. Early. Hopefully, Roy can get John awake by then."

Overhearing the conversation and knowing all too well how Johnny reacted on medications, Roy let Karl know, "Johnny should be awake in about ten minutes. He's already trying to open his eyes and move."

"Too much experience huh?"

"Yep," Jo and Roy answered almost at the same time.

Smiling, Doctor Druthers left the couple to help the young man awaken and to find Doctor Early. After a thorough search of the emergency room, he was found and explaining how Johnny was starting to come around, Dr. Early let Dixie know where he was headed.

"Say hi to Roy and Jo for me," she said.

Almost said Johnny, she thought sadly. I wonder if there ever will come a time when he will be back to his old self. Or, at the very least, a time where I can be around him without scaring him half to death like I did when he was first brought in.

Mentally shaking herself from her dreary thoughts, she watched as Joe and Karl made their way to the elevators.

Once the two men reached the ICU floor, Dr. Early stopped by the nurse's desk to grab some material.

"Are you going to come in?" Joe asked.

"No, I think it's best if I just observe from outside the room," Doctor Druthers said.

"Alright, once I'm done, I'll go over my notes with you. See if we're on the same page."

"Sounds good. Good luck."

Waving, Dr. Early entered the cubicle softly and smiled at the DeSotos. Seeing Johnny was awake, or at least awake as much as he could be given the medication he was on, Joe smiled at Johnny as well.

"Hi, Johnny," he greeted his patient. "Do you remember me?"

Nodding, Johnny told him haltingly, "You give owie shots. Ask lotta questions."

"That's right," Dr. Early said, holding back his laughter as he sat down on a chair on the left side of the bed.

"Why owie?"

"Why did I give you a shot?" Doctor Early asked to clarify.

Nodding carefully, John looked at him.

"You were having what was called a seizure," was the careful reply.

Eyes widened as John asked, "What?"

Taking over, Joanne explained as she rubbed his arm, "A seizure means your body was shaking a lot. It's not good to have that so the doctor gave you a shot to stop it."

Noticing the confused look, Joanne thought a minute and then started shaking her arms.

"See how my arms shook?" she asked and waited for him to nod. "Well, that was what your body was doing."

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"We don't know," Roy answered truthfully. "We do know it has to do with you hitting your head. Doctor Early here has your head hooked up to wires. That way, if it happens again, we will know if it is taking place inside your head. You could have the seizure if you have too much or too little of things in your blood, like calcium."

"Is that milk?" Johnny asked, confused.

"Yes, calcium is found in milk," Doctor Early said. "Did this help?"

"I shake, so you give shot that hurts?" John summarized.

"Yes," Roy acknowledged with a small smile.

"It's called siz...er?" Johnny's eyes squinted as he concentrated very hard while trying to recall the information.

"Close," Joanne said. "It's called a seizure. It's okay if you can't remember that or why it happened, alright? Just know that we are doing what we can so it doesn't happen again."

"'K," he said slowly, still confused.

"Is it okay if I finish asking you the questions I have?" Dr. Early asked, sensing it would be wise to move on.

"Do I gotta?" Johnny looked towards Roy and Joanne, unaware how happy it made them.

"Yes sweetie, it'll tell the doctor how to help you," Jo encouraged him.

"Fine," Johnny let out a huge sigh.

Well, at least some things haven't changed, Roy mused.

Over the next hour, Doctor Early went through the neuro checklist he had, beginning with asking Johnny to count from ten to zero and then zero to ten. He then laid out a piece of paper, a plastic toy tree, and a spoon. Once these were laid out, Joe asked Johnny to identify each one.

Johnny easily figured out the spoon and paper, but when Doctor Early asked again what the plastic toy tree was, he got frustrated.

Look like tree. Do I say tree? Johnny wondered as he grew more and more confused. Why not say to me tell me what looks like? Hate this. Hate this! Why not just go away!

"I DON'T KNOW!" he shouted.

"Ok, it's okay," Dr. Early soothed. "You don't need to know what it is, okay."

Sniffing, Johnny tried turning away, only to be faced with Roy and Joanne looking at him sympathetically.

"I wanna go home, wanna be with mom and da," he plaintively said.

Allowing Joanne access to Johnny, Roy watched as Joanne gathered him in her arms.

"Honey, I know you want to go home. I know you wish your mom and dad were still here. If I could, I'd make things better for you. So would Roy and Doctor Early," she soothed as she rubbed his back. "This is your home now though and I can promise you that Roy and I will be here for you. We will watch out for you, help you out, okay? We care so much about you."

Sighing, Joanne didn't know what else to say and from what she could see, both Roy and Doctor Early weren't very comfortable dealing with this burst of emotion.

"How about we just take things one by one, okay?" she suggested after the tears had slowed and almost stopped. "We're almost done with the tests the doctor needs to run and after that, you can rest up. How does that sound?"

Nodding slowly, Johnny allowed himself to be laid back down on the bed. Rubbing his eyes, he didn't look up at anyone.

"It's okay to cry and get mad," Roy told him, sensing his embarrassment.

"Really?" John asked skeptically.

Why is it okay? Other elders who look like you hate when I do… thought Johnny as he tried hard not to glare at the man whose name he couldn't remember. How I know you as nice as you seem?

"Really," Roy said, lifting up his chin so he could look at Johnny in the eyes. "Now, let's finish this up so you can sleep."

"'K."

"Alright, if you can, I'd like you to draw a square for me," Joe asked softly, afraid of setting John off again.

Thankfully, after a few minutes of contemplating on how to draw a square, Johnny slowly drew a square. Albeit a lopsided and crooked one.

"Great job!" Joe praised. "Now, how about a circle?"

Again, slowly and with a lot of thinking involved, Johnny drew a circle.

Even though it looked more like an oval with very shaky lines, again Doctor Early told him how good of a job he was doing.

I wish I could skip these last tests since they are more difficult for most people with brain injuries and Johnny seems almost scared of doing anything wrong. Now, I finally understand why families shouldn't treat family. If it is this hard just trying to help a friend, I can't imagine treating a family member. I already feel like a monster, forcing Johnny to stay awake longer than he'd like and putting him through all this, Dr. Early thought. Unfortunately, that would be doing a disservice to him. I just wish there was an easier solution.

Getting out a set of blocks, he asked Johnny to arrange them in a square. Once Johnny began, Joe snuck a peek at his watch in order to time how long it took him. Finally, after six minutes, Johnny had arranged all eight blocks into a rectangle. Despite not being the shape that was asked, Doctor Early ignored it and smiled at Johnny as he congratulated him.

Since the blocks were different colors, Joe took four of the basic colors-red, blue, green, and white. Again, he placed them in front of John before asking him what each of the colors were. This time, John was able to figure out what each color was. Removing the blocks, Doctor Early set out three cards. Each had a picture and one simple sentence on it.

"I promise, this is the last thing I will ask of you, okay?" Dr. Early promised. "Here, I would like you to put these cards in order of what you would do first, what you would do second and what you would do last."

Staring at the cards, Johnny saw an object he had never seen before and began freaking out.

I can't do this! They gonna be mad! Gonna hate me. Stupid, stupid…

Seeing Johnny beginning to hyperventilate, Roy quickly asked, "Johnny, what's wrong?"

"Stupid," he mumbled.

"Why?" Roy asked.

"Stupid."

Trying to figure out what was going on, Roy followed John's eyes to where they were looking. Seeing how they were darting back and forth along the pictures, he had an idea.

"Does this have to do with the cards?"

"Stupid," John huffed.

"Have you seen that before?" Roy continued his questioning gently.

Shaking his head hard, Johnny groaned as his stomach launched a protest and his head seemed to pound harder.

"Hey, look at me," Roy gently grabbed Johnny's chin and moved it so he was looking at him. "It's okay. You're not stupid. Just breathe, okay?"

Coaching him, Roy soon got Johnny to calm down.

Not that it was too hard. He's just so exhausted! Roy thought, unsure whether to be thankful or not.

While Roy had been calming John down, Doctor Early had removed the cards.

"Johnny," Joe said once Johnny was doing okay again. "It's fine that you didn't know. I'm sorry for making you think you had to know. You did great with these questions. I promise, you won't have to go through this again for a while again. Right now, I am going to have the nurse come in and give you something to help you not hurt so much."

Roy, Joanne, and Dr. Early watched as Johnny slowly dropped off to sleep even before the nurse could insert the medication into his IV. As soon as they were certain he'd be out for a while, the three met Dr. Druthers at the door before heading to a conference room.