@Peanut Butter, sorry for your friend. Good on you for being there.
A decade ago one of my friends had a stroke. Retired athlete, owned car dealerships. Got up to pee at 5am, and hit the floor in his way back to bed. He went back to square one. Very bad, very sad. His wife called me from the hospital. He was a larger man with a million emotions going through him. Hospital staff was scared. I was pretty large at the time too, combined with the friendship, the call to me made sense.
We spent a lot of time together in the first week, and then throughout recovery. He has made a great recovery from being non verbal, but is forever disabled. Far from his peak certainly.
When he sees me today he cries. He's still very thankful for the time I spent in the hospital with him.
Good on you for being there for your friend. I certainly wish him a healthy recovery. It means a lot to him. Prayers for all
Hold it together, be strong for him. Make jokes, talk story. Actions you don't think twice of mean a lot to people laying in a hospital bed