HOUSTON -- The wife of Tejano music star Emilio Navaira III said her husband is "out of danger" and talking after being critically injured in a tour bus crash, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

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Slideshow: Emilio Injured In Bus Crash

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"I would like to thank mainly God," Maria Navaira said. "Soon he'll be transferred to a private room out of the ICU. This is news I've been waiting for for three weeks and I'm very happy with it -- that my husband is recovering and is back with us again."

Emilio Navaira, known as Emilio to his fans, was upgraded to fair condition on Wednesday.

"I have been able to read his lips and see in his eyes all the love," Maria Navaira said.

Emilio has been able to communicate and say a few words, including asking about his five children, his wife said.

Emilio's doctor said he does not know when the singer might be able to perform again.

"It's difficult to say how well he will do and how long it will take to recover and how well he will recover. The fact that he's made a lot of progress in what is actually a very short time is encouraging," said Dr. Alex Valadka, director of neurotrauma services at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and vice chair of neurosciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "He still has a long way to go and recovery from this can continue to take a long time. He's very impatient and he will have to learn to deal with that because he will not be able to do things as well as he used to, at least not for a little while."

It could be weeks before Emilio will be released from the hospital.

"Even after he's home, recovery will continue for many, many months," Valadka said.

He said Emilio might have initial problems with his memory and concentrating as a result of his accident.

"He stood up last night. He's eating, talking," Valadka said. "A week or two ago, he actually wrote his own name, which was one of the first signs we had that he was getting better. You can just tell by the look in his eye that he is much better than he was even a few weeks ago."

Doctors said support and love from Emilio's family have made a major impact on his recovery.

"Emilio had two very lethal conditions from which he is recovering in a remarkable fashion. I said to him day before yesterday when I realized he could understand in detail what I was saying -- it is now that we find out why he is alive because it is totally conceivable that he would not have survived this and the fact that he has has some meaning," said Dr. Cornelius Davis, a cardiothoracic surgeon with Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Navaira, 45, was behind the wheel of his tour bus on March 23 when it slammed into a collection of freeway barrels that mark the interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 59 in Bellaire. He was thrown through the windshield.

Navaira has undergone two brain surgeries and a procedure to treat a pseudoaneurysm in his right lung.

Doctors said he "reached a significant milestone in his recovery."

Maria Navaira said she did not have words to describe how thankful she was for those who prayed for Emilio's recovery and said their families helped her through this difficult time.

"My children give me the strength to continue going ahead forward," she said. "It was agony the first few weeks. It was difficult not knowing whether or not he was going to make it."

She said it's been especially difficult on her 2-year-old daughter, Frida Luna, whom she held in her lap as she talked, and on her 4-year-old son Pani Antonio, who sat next to her.

"We are a family and most of the time we are together," she said. "I talked with my kids, had a psychologist at the hospital talk with the kids. I try to be truthful with them. They know their father was hurt badly and is in the hospital recovering."

Investigators said they do not know why the bus crashed. The accident remains under investigation.

Police in Bellaire said Navaira was not licensed to drive the 26,000-pound tour bus. Authorities were awaiting the results of blood-alcohol tests and said it was possible he may have fallen asleep.

Emilio and his group have released more than a dozen albums, including "Acuerdate," which won the Grammy for best Tejano album in 2003.

More Information:

Memorial Hermann's Web Site: Provides Updates On Emilio's Condition