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HOUSTON -- If well wishes alone could make Emilio Navaira better, the Tejano star would already be back onstage.

Hundreds of the singer’s fans gathered at Guadalupe plaza for another vigil Tuesday night, lighting candles and hoping for the best.

Raul Navaira, Emilio’s brother, was on the tour bus when it crashed into freeway median barrels on the West Loop early Sunday morning.

He spoke to the crowd in East Houston Tuesday.

“My brother is a fighter. He looks good. We’re just taking it hour by hour, day by day,” he said.

“All I remember is waking up in rubble and climbing out of the bus.  First thing I yelled out for my brother,” Raul said.

But Emilio didn’t answer. He was driving at the time of the crash and was thrown through the windshield, suffering a traumatic brain injury and fractures to his back. 

He’s been at Memorial Hermann ever since, fighting for his life.

But family and fans remain optimistic.

“Emilio is better every day,” Raul said.

It’s exactly what his fans wanted to hear. 

Fellow Tejano band members stood behind the family Tuesday offering their support.

Emilio’s daughter, who will turn 9 Wednesday, said her birthday wish was that her father would open his eyes.

His son echoed that prayer.

“I know he’s going to be OK. My daddy loves you all,” he told the crowd. “Thank you for everything. He’s going to be back!”

But doctors were not so sure.

Even if he survives the head injury, the singer faces a long recovery and an uncertain future.

His doctors have put his survival chances at 30 to 35 percent. They say it’s possible he could remain in a coma, be paralyzed or have memory loss.

On Tuesday, doctors began rewarming the singer after treating his severe head injury with hypothermia.

They lowered the Grammy-winning star’s body temperature to keep his brain from further swelling and help his recovery. It’s part of a hypothermia treatment study, according to Dr. Alex Valadka, director of neurotrauma services at Memorial Hermann Hospital and vice chair of neurosciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

“That’s the whole point of this study, to see if that actually holds true in a real-world situation,” Dr. Valadka said “It’s one thing to get it to work well in the laboratory, but implementing it in a real live critical care situation is a very different task.”

Doctors on Tuesday raised Navaira’s temperature by a quarter-degree Centigrade each hour.

Though Navaira was stable overnight, he was still critical Tuesday.

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Emilio Navaira | Slideshow

Dr. Valadka says his team is “still afraid something adverse can happen.”

Police have said Navaira did not have the proper license to drive his tour bus when he crashed it.

“To operate a bus that size, that weight, he should’ve had a Class B driver’s license,” Holloway said.

An officer at the scene of the accident Sunday said alcohol may have been a factor, but Bellaire Assistant Police Chief Byron Holloway said Monday there were no obvious signs of alcohol at the time of the crash.

Police took a blood sample to determine if Navaira was intoxicated, but the results wouldn’t be available for a few weeks.

Holloway said the crash was probably a result of driver error or a mechanical problem.

“I think the blood analysis might tell the tale,” Holloway said.

Holloway said it’s also possible the singer fell asleep at the wheel.

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Authorities believe Navaira wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, but noted that a seatbelt is not required by law in buses.

Holloway said they don’t believe the bus had a black box because of its age, but they are double-checking with the manufacturer.

Whether alcohol was a factor or not, authorities said charges are not the focus of their investigation, since no one else was seriously hurt and the singer’s condition is so uncertain.

Navaira and the band were returning to their homes in the San Antonio area after performing at the Hullabaloo.

Saturday night, while Emilio was playing at Hullabaloo, his friend, David Lee Garza, was playing literally a mile down the road.

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Emilio's bus is hauled away after the crash.

Navaira was once a singer for Garza, who was performing at Bea’s Island Club.

That’s why club owner Beatrice Zarate says Navaira stopped by late in the evening.

“Emilio used to be David Lee’s singer, so that’s why he stopped by, I believe about 11:15 p.m. or so while he was on intermission from the other club,” she said.

Zarate said Navaira visited briefly, then returned to Hullabaloo.  She said she knows him well, and he’s often played for her.

“We just want Emilio to get well and be with us again and know that we love him,” she said.

Emilio’s soundman, Robert Dorante, said the singer was probably in a rush to get home to his family for Easter Sunday when he crashed.

“We’re here to pray for him tonight, but as well as all the musicians who have to journey through the night like that,” Dorante, himself a Grammy-nominated musician, said.

Club Manager Ruen Pena said Navaira’s star status comes from this everyman approachability.

“He throws just such an awesome show, and when it’s all done and over he’s still the same guy when he came in,” Pena said.

Family friend DJ Jesse Rodriguez said he can only hope for the best for Navaira.

“Emilio has been described as the George Strait of Tejano music,” Rodriguez said. “I think if everyone can help and keep him in their prayers, everything will turn out alright.”

Navaira was born on Aug. 23, 1962 in San Antonio.

He was a music major at Texas State University.

In the last 12 years, Navaira and his band have won multiple awards and achieved significant success in both Mexico and the United States with Tejano and mainstream country music hits.

“Acuerdate” won the 2003 Grammy for best Tejano album.

Navaira has been a frequent performer at RodeoHouston, most recently in 2007. A group organized a boycott this year because no Tejano groups were invited to the rodeo for Go Tejano Day. But Casias said Navaira didn’t support the boycott because he believes the rodeo is “all about the kids” and the scholarship money raised.

Navaira has also had a few brushes with the law.

He was booked in San Antonio in 2000 for allegedly resisting arrest.

Police were called to a hotel lobby, where they said Navaira was arguing with a woman and appeared intoxicated and uncooperative. 

Navaira denied any wrongdoing.

That same year, he was arrested in San Antonio on DWI charges. He received probation and paid a fine as a result.

Navaira, who has been married twice, has five children ranging in age from 2 to 18.