Chapter Text
The hospital was starting to become a familiar place for the Walter family. 1 week. 1 week of white concrete piercing their eyes. 1 week of inhaling the putrid smell of sanitiser. 1 week of cole being in a coma. Jackie had been staying at Grace’s for every single day of the week. When she found out, she immediately broke down into a panic attack and honestly, the brothers haven’t seen her since. No one could look each other in the eye. Instead, they all sit in the waiting room praying to look into Cole’s eyes.
Tap. Tap.
Nathan’s face winces in discomfort. Fuck, my neck. His eyes flutter open, whilst a freckled face slowly focuses into his view.
“Sorry Nate,” Alex murmurs in guilt, “Come on, let’s go home. We’ve gotta put Parker and Benny to bed.” He explains. Nathan sighs heavily and rubs his eyes, attempting to regain more awareness after his nap. His body protests as he manages to release himself from the hospital chair he melded into. He walks to the truck along with Alex, Danny, Jordan, Parker and Benny. Isaac and Lee were nowhere to be seen. Probably staying at Oliver’s again. The entire ride is completely silent.
After an hour, Parker and Benny get settled into sleep. Danny is still trying to get Jordan to sleep, leaving Nathan and Alex sitting in an uncomfortable, yet familiar silence at the kitchen. Nathan absentmindedly begins picking at some loose threads on the sleeve of his sweater, whilst Alex is seemingly interested in the pattern on the table.
This is so fucking awkward.
Danny enters abruptly and opens the fridge, searching for a snack.
“Jordan’s finally in bed, you guys want anything?” Danny glances at the pair, both looking equally distraught and lost in thought.
“I’m okay, thanks Danny” Alex responds whilst Nathan utters a word of agreement. Danny begins walking to the table to join them whilst eagerly munching on an apple, joining the collective silence.
The silence lasts for a few minutes, before it’s broken by Alex.
“Do we have enough food for breakfast tomorrow?” he prompted.
“Uh yeah, I think. We could do french toast and also check for some more eggs outside if needed.” Danny replies in between his chewing.
Alex nods, before focussing on the ground again; chewing on his lip in discomfort.
Nathan sucks in a sharp breath, furrowing his eyebrows and standing up, walking towards the sink. A dull pressure formed behind his eyes as he reached for a mug in the cabinet.
“You okay, Nate?” Alex probed from the table.
“Yeah I’m fine, just needed some water,” Nathan responded in a nonchalant manner, whilst filling the mug.
“Who’s cooking tomorrow? I cooked yesterday so…” Nathan reminded to sway the conversation.
Alex and Danny quickly began discussing who would cook tomorrow, whilst also negotiating who was in charge of what. As their voices bled into one, the pressure behind Nathan’s eyes intensified. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain. He blinked a few ltimes in quick succession, attempting to focus his vision however he started feeling weird. Nathan’s vision remained blurry despite his blinking. A wave of nausea rippled from his belly to his throat, as the voices of Danny and Alex transformed into a piercing ringing noise.
The sound of a ceramic mug splintering into dozens of shards on the hard floor, immediately snapped Danny’s and Alex out of their conversation. The pair immediately rushed to their feet and ushered toward Nathan.
“Nathan?” Alex began “Nathan, you okay?”
He was met with silence.
“Oh shit, there’s glass everywhere.” Danny exclaimed whilst bending down to carefully pick it all up. Alex glanced at Nathan’s face, stunned by the sight.
Nathan’s eyes were wide and completely dilated. He was gently chewing on his lip in a repetitive motion, whilst the right side of his face gently twitched ever so slightly. Nathan’s gaze was locked ahead: frozen, blank and unmoving.
“Danny, I- I think he’s seizing,” Alex muttered in distress.
“Oh shit,” Danny responded whilst immediately standing back up from the glass. Both their gazes were locked in Nathan, in worry, until a rumble of footsteps came crashing toward them.
“What happened?!”
“We heard a crash?!”
“What’s going on?!”
A storm of high pitch voices inundated the ears of Alex and Danny. Danny quickly walked over to them.
“Go back to bed now, go.” He insisted as he pointed sternly to their rooms.
“But there was a crash!”
“Is it Nathan?”
“What happened?”
Their squealed voiced continuously overlapped, prompting frustration within Danny.
“Go to back to bed now, please. Nathan not feeling well. Go back now.” Danny commanded in a serious tone, causing the kids to listen.
Danny immediately turned back to Nathan and Alex, who kept his eye on
Nathan while mentally timing it. Danny hurriedly attempted to pick up more shards, but thankfully Nathan’s seizure came to a stop.
Nathan blinked a few times whilst frantically looking around in confusion. His breathing had become heavier as he took in his surroundings.
“Nathan?”
Nathan quickly turned his head, startled but the sound, but his legs began to buckle causing him to sway slightly.
“Woah, hey it’s okay I got you. You’re alright.” Alex quickly placed a hand around Nathan’s hips to steady himself. Danny stood up aswell to help support him.
“Hey, you’re okay, Nate,” Alex continued, “It’s me, Alex, and Danny over there, we got you,” Alex reassured. Nathan brows furrowed in confusion as a dull ache began to persevere throughout his head.
“It’s alright, you had a seizure Nathan, but we’ve got you now. You’re okay,” Alex repeated to ensure Nathan felt comfortable.
Nathan was attempting to speak, but he felt groggy. He was experiencing brain fog and unable to comprehend what was happening very well. All he managed were some, small grunts.
“Hey come on how bout we get you to bed okay?” Danny asked in a soft tone. The three of them carefully made it up the stairs, Danny and Alex offering a hand of assistance as Nathan felt disoriented.
Nathan gradually became more coherent within the next 15 minutes. He lay in his bed in annoyance of his seizure. Beside him, Alex sitting on the edge of the bed, carefully placing a glass of water on the table incase Nathan needed it. Danny was hastily cleaning up the remaining shards downstairs.
“Are you okay? How you feeling?” Alex queried.
“I’m fine,”
“You sure?”
Nathan inhaled a deep breath. God, this is embarrassing.
“Um, my head still kinda aches a bit but honestly, I’m.. just tired,”
“Have you been taking your meds?”
“Yes, Alex, I have.” Nathan responded in a somewhat aggressive manner.
“Then.. should we call the neurologist? Maybe something’s wrong with the dosage or-“
“Alex,” Nathan interrupted “this week.. it’s been stressful, okay? and..”
Nathan sighed deeply, his eyes growing heavier by the second.
“and honestly, I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Sometimes seizures just happen, okay?” Alex sat there, slightly stunned but understanding.
“I’m sorry Alex, I just- I-“
“No, no it’s fine don’t apologise,” Alex gave Nathan a tap on his leg whilst standing up and beginning to head out.
“If you need anything, just let us know. Get some sleep okay?” Alex proposed.
“Hey-actually, Alex?”
Alex spun around, gaze centred on Nathan’s worn face.
“Uhm, please don’t tell Mom,”
Alex’s face contorted into confusion.
“What, why?”
“Come on Alex, i’m fine okay and- and I don’t- I don’t want her having something else to worry about.” Nathan pestered, blinking away growing tears.
“Nate.. I-,” Alex was speechless. If he didn’t tell his Mom, the guilt would eat him alive. She needed to know, she had a right to, but seeing Nathan’s face..
“She has a right to know, Nate. Remember last time, when you didn’t tell her?”
“Alex please, this is different you know it is. I’m fine, I don’t want her to worry. Please I’m begging you,” His desperation grew as the words tumbled out his mouth.
“Hey, get some sleep okay, we’ll talk tomorrow.” Alex concluded before shutting off the light and walking back to the kitchen.
Danny tiredly dragged his hands over his face, it’s been a long day. More like a long week. His head snapped up at the sound of footsteps, as Alex entered the kitchen.
“How is he?”
“Uhm, he’s fine, he’s pretty tired but uhm..” Alex paused.
“He doesn’t want me to tell Mom.”
“What? Why?”
“He-he doesn’t want her to worry and you know what Nate’s like with his seizures.”
They both knew. Nathan hated people worrying about him. On top of that, he hated the feeling of it all. The feeling of being vulnerable after a seizure. Taking pills everyday. Nathan always tried to downplay his symptoms, he never wanted to feel like a burden.
“So what are you gonna do?” Danny asked.
Alex briefly but his lip in frustration, whilst gently and slowly shaking his head.
“Nathan’s gonna hate me.” Alex bluntly replied whilst reaching for his phone.