more, please...

The one who was in the car accident.

My parents had told him that I had gone to the hospital when he was admitted and waited there until they got there.. he said he really appreciated what I did. His voice cracked and he started to get emotional, so said he loved me and ended the message.

I was surprised to hear from him. Well, the last I had heard from my mom (about 1.5 weeks ago) he was still only semi-conscious and was slurring a lot, and since head injuries can have unpredictable results, I wasn't expecting for the message to be from him. His speech in the voice mail was not slurred.

So I called the number back (it was my other brother's cell phone, which my parents have been carrying with them while they're down in Phoenix).. and he answered. We talked for about 5-10 minutes.

He's doing much better, the only lasting issues he has from the accident at this point is his left hand is a lot weaker than it used to be (also probably the left side of his body in general, although he only spoke about his hand), and his peripheral vision is toast (which might mean he won't be driving any time soon -- which is probably a good thing.. unknown whether this is a permanent loss). He's walking, too. So he was very, very lucky.

He's being released from the therapy home today, moved to a temporary facility where he will stay for another three days and get a psychological evaluation to determine what meds he will need to start taking (for his pre-existing disorders). The accident shook him up something fierce (which is what we were all hoping for), so he's finally going to do something about his mental health.

I really hope he sticks with it. He can be a really loving and dear person when he feels like it, but when he's on a down trip or cranked up on (illegal) drugs he turns into an asshole. I think part of the problem was he never felt like anyone loved him before (and it was really hard to show love to him when he was being a dickhead)... but with the accident, he got cards from family out of state, and he learned about how concerned some of them were about his welfare (my grandmother & great-aunt, specifically), and how diligent my parents were about staying at his bedside or at least near the hospital (particularly my mother, who he butted heads with like you wouldn't believe).. so I think now he knows that he is loved, and that it's high time he took care of his issues with himself.

We'll see how this goes. Like his recovery from the accident, it will be a day by day thing. I really hope he sticks with whatever program they put him on, for his sake, for my family's sake, and for his childrens' sakes.
That's all, folks...