Over the next few days a schedule was established - two of the boys were at the hospital at all times, cycling through the waiting area and Ryan's room. Emmet continued to take the morning shifts in Ryan's room, with George following him. Neil took the evening shifts, and Keith the overnights. Whoever was next to go into to Ryan's room was in the waiting area for the shift before. Updates were given to Sharon at the end of each shift, although there was little to say.
The staff grew fond of the boys very quickly - they helped wherever they could, with moving Ryan, opening doors for someone with full hands, bringing things back from the cafeteria, and even helping other families when needed. The staff never needed to worry about the Kellys, and if another family was not getting support, a quick word to the boys would make sure that that family got food and support as well. Even Dr. Reilly had to admit that there was not a spoiled or temperamental bone in any of the boys' bodies and was heard to say on one occasion that the unit was functioning very smoothly indeed with them there. The boys were accepted as Ryan's brothers and even included in medical updates.
The boys found it good to have something to do, as all they could do for Ryan was watch his muscles grow gradually tighter each day. They all felt very helpless to do anything for him, and so they concentrated on anyone else they could help.
Two days after the boys had been let in, George and Raymond were in Ryan's room and Neil in the waiting area when one of Ryan's alarms sounded, harsh and urgent. They'd grown used to the gentler sounds indicating that a feeding bag or IV bag was empty. George and Raymond backed against the wall as Nadine hurried in. She silenced the alarm, reading the blinking number on the monitor with dismay. She turned hurriedly to them. "I'm going to need to ask you to leave the room, we need to do some urgent assessment. The pressure in Ryan's brain has suddenly jumped too high. I'll come out to update you as soon as I can."
Raymond and George stumbled into the waiting room, almost in shock. As bad as the days of minimal change had been, they suddenly realized they'd take them back in a heartbeat. The rest of the Kellys and Neil surrounded them. "What's wrong?" Mr. Kelly asked urgently.
"The alarm on Ryan's brain pressure monitor went off," Raymond said. "It's been increasing slowly, but Nadine said it suddenly increased, and they need to do some assessments, and she'd let us know what was happening as soon as she could." Texts were immediately sent to Keith and Emmet, and to Sharon as well, and the boys and the Kellys huddled together, praying as they waited for news. Keith and Emmet arrived as soon as possible. After an hour and a half of agonized waiting, Nadine called them all into the conference room, where Dr. Reilly was waiting for them.
"We need to take Ryan in for immediate surgery," he said gravely. "He's already being prepped. As you know, the blood clot in his brain has been growing slowly larger and increasing the pressure in his skull. The emergency scan we just did shows a new area of fresh blood - the pressure has broken another blood vessel that was probably weakened by the initial injury. We need to go in, suction out the old blood clot, and find the new bleeder and get it stopped, or his chances of recovery are virtually nil. In another several hours, the increase in pressure would most likely kill him. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news for you."
"Will you actually need to go into his brain?" Mrs. Kelly asked fearfully.
"Probably not," Dr. Reilly assured her. "We'll need to open his skull on the right side, and peel back the membranes that cover his brain, but it appears that the broken blood vessels are all on the surface of his brain - all the blood that we can see is between his brain and his skull, rather than deeper in his brain."
"How risky is this?" Mr. Kelly asked.
"There's always the risk that his heart could stop during the surgery, but we're prepared for that in the operating room. The risks are far higher if we don't operate."
There was no option, everyone knew that. Mr. Kelly gave the permission for the surgery, signing the necessary papers, and they all returned to the waiting room, staring at each other or the floor in fear and despair. An update was sent to Sharon, who hurried to join them as fast as she could. Knowing it would be several hours before they heard anything, everyone took turns going down to the cafeteria and forcing themselves to eat something. Someone was always in the waiting room; they weren't about to risk no one being there when news was brought.
Nadine brought them periodic updates, but it was little help to know that each stage of the process was happening, although it was good to hear that Ryan's heart was strong and was maintaining a good rhythm. Finally, Nadine brought them word that the surgery was complete, blood clot removed, and several bleeding vessels had been fixed, and that the pressure in Ryan's skull had decreased to a safer level. He was in the recovery room and would be brought back up to his room shortly - but no visitors at all would be allowed until morning, as they needed to monitor his reaction to the surgery. Sighs of relief were heard, and then Sharon sent all the boys back to the hotel to rest, saying that she would stay with the Kellys through the night. It didn't quite work that way; Keith was unable to sleep for more than a few hours, and came back to the hospital around midnight, Emmet arriving a few hours later for the same reason.