Silver Falls, Colorado
(2020)
- lovely -

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"Please tell me you have an idea where everyone is, Cole!" of course Cole had no idea where everyone was! He too began to wonder why no one was in the house or why no one had let them know they were going somewhere together as a family!

"No idea, Val! Text Alex or Danny and ask where they are so that we at least have some kind of clue." Valeria nodded, took out her phone and texted Danny.

Danny💫

Valeria
Danny? Where are you?

Danny
Hey, Val! We're, um, in the hospital!

Valeria
What has happened and who has been harmed?

Danny
Nathan has collapsed and now the doctors are doing lots of examinations and tests. Do you and Cole want to come to the hospital too?

Valeria
What kind of question is that? Of course Cole and I are coming to the hospital! We'll be there in 5 minutes, love you!

Danny
Nathan will be happy to see you when he wakes up! Drive carefully, love you too!

⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯

Totally shocked by the news, Valeria dropped her phone and looked at Cole. He didn't understand what was going on, which is why he looked at Valeria, confused and questioning.

"Val, what's going on? Where did Danny say they were?" without really listening to him, Valeria grabbed her car keys, pulled Cole towards her car and then they drove off towards the hospital!

"Danny and the others are in the hospital, Cole! Nathan has collapsed and now has to undergo some examinations and tests!" Cole's eyes widened and he instantly began to worry about his brother! Valeria was also worried and therefore disregarded one or two traffic rules!

When they arrived at the hospital, Valeria parked her car right in front of the entrance and they were inside faster than lightning! Katherine and George looked at the Cole and Valeria and seconds later Cole and Valeria found themselves in loving but worried embraces!

Valeria looked at Alex, but he didn't pay her a single glance. She sighed and finally sat down next to Katherine and Cole on one of the chairs in the waiting area. It took about an hour for one of the doctors to arrive and inform the Walter's of Nathan's condition.

"Doctor Walter, Mr Walter, I'm here to inform you about Nathan's condition." Katherine and George looked at each other. Was Nathan feeling better again? Is it something bad? Cole sighed, looked at Valeria and took her right hand. She turned her head and smiled at him slightly. At that moment, Alex also looked at Valeria and when he saw her smile, he looked at her and Cole's hands and instantly he became angry.

"And what's wrong with Nathan? Is it something bad? Can we see him?" George sounded even more worried than an hour ago and he paced back and forth nervously! The doctor sighed and then looked at the boys and Valeria.

"The tests and examinations are not yet 100% complete, but we can already say with certainty that Nathan suffers from epilepsy!" Epilepsy. This word echoed around in Valeria's head and she felt sadness rising in her. She felt sorry for Nathan and even sorrier that he would now have to take medication for the rest of his life to control his epilepsy.

"Are we allowed to see him?" Valeria suddenly asked and everyone turned their heads towards her. Katherine put her right hand on Valeria's right shoulder and sighed. Cole also sighed, got up and went outside. He couldn't stand it any longer inside, where he only heard bad things anyway and wasn't allowed to see his brother!

Valeria pondered for a few minutes whether she should run after Cole or not, before following him outside and feeling Alex's scowl at her back. Why was Alex behaving like this? Had she done something to him and not realised it? She didn't understand and, to be honest, she didn't really want to talk to him.

So she went outside to Cole, who was leaning against the wall of the hospital and looking up at the sky. He looked so dreamy and sweet, Valeria didn't know him like that. When he noticed her, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her slightly. You could tell he was worried about his brother and Valeria didn't want to say or do anything that would make the situation worse than it already was!

"Let me guess: you can't stand Alex anymore?" Valeria laughed and shook her head. Alex wasn't the problem, the problem was that she didn't want to leave Cole alone.

"Your brother doesn't bother me! It's more that I don't want to leave you alone right now!" she plucked nervously at the skin of her fingernails and waited for Cole to react. She wasn't sure why she'd said that out loud, because she was actually too scared to!

"Miss Philadelphia, you're getting cuter and cuter!" Valeria's cheeks flushed and she felt a tingling in her stomach. But she thought to herself 'why does this tingling have to come now?' 'couldn't it come when the world wasn't about to end?' Cole tilted his head and looked at her lovingly.

"Cole, the last 5 days have shown me that you are a great person and no matter how hard I try not to fall for your charm and your loving, protective nature, I unfortunately keep finding myself getting lost in your eyes and how much it scares me how much you actually mean to me!" now it was quiet. Neither of them wanted to say anything and neither of them dared to look at the other. At some point, Cole pushed himself away from the wall of the hospital and walked towards Valeria.

"How fortunate that I can say the same about you, Val. You really are something special and I am convinced that you will achieve great things in your life! I will always be here when you need me and I will forever be proud of you, Miss Philadelphia!" Valeria suddenly felt warm and she instantly snuggled against Cole's chest. He laid his head on hers and gently stroked her back. Alex, meanwhile, went to see where Valeria was, but the moment he looked out of the window, he wished he hadn't! Seeing the girl he loved with his big brother, who he thought was only using her for prestige at school, broke his heart!

Angry, he paced back and forth in the hospital until Danny and Isaac held him down and confronted him.

"Alex, what's going on?" Danny asked, who hadn't noticed the slightest thing about Valeria and Cole. Isaac and Lee didn't seem to have noticed anything either, which surprised Alex greatly.

"Haven't you two actually noticed anything? Did you two really not realise what was going on between Cole and Valeria?!" Isaac's eyes widened and he immediately ran to the window where Alex had been standing seconds before. When he saw Valeria and Cole, he clenched his hands into fists and looked at Lee, who was looking at him, confused and questioning.

"Why is he hitting on my sister?! What about Erin? Are they no longer a couple?!" Isaac sounded worried, angry and confused. Why did Cole do this to Erin? And why did his sister go along with it? Had she lost her mind? Isaac sat back down minutes later and put his head in his hands. Lee was still confused and decided to go over to Danny and Alex.

"Okay, what's going on? Why are you so angry, Isaac?" Isaac looked up and gestured to the window. Lee walked over to the window and looked out. When he saw Valeria and Cole, his eyes widened, he started to sweat and he became angry. His sister had definitely lost her mind!

"Has she lost her mind?! Why is she doing this?!" Alex and Isaac shrugged their shoulders and Danny just stood there perplexed. Of course he knew that Alex was secretly in love with Valeria, even a blind man could see that, but he hadn't expected his little brother to get so angry just by seeing Cole and Valeria together!

"Why didn't you tell Valeria how you felt, Alex?" Danny suddenly asked, which snapped Alex out of his thoughts and made him think. Yes, why hadn't he just confessed his feelings to her? Why had he waited so long for the very thing he was so afraid of to happen? Now his mood had been ruined for good and he had to distract himself somehow.

"I'll stretch my legs for a moment and be right back." he said briefly and then disappeared somewhere. Katherine and George looked at each other before both sighed and looked at the rest of their children.

At some point Cole and Valeria came back in and looked at two angry faces. Valeria gulped as she saw the angry faces of her brothers and she instantly wondered what she had done wrong.