One in a Million (UNEDITED)

Chap 17: Is she gonna be ok?

In the last chapter~
~Imani met a boy named Dylan and his family who just so happen to be close with Nick's family
~Imani goes to use the restroom but her uncle and ex find her and beat her
~Imani's uncle pushes her down the stairs and the Gardens find and help her

Nick's POV

I examined her body, she had a busted lip, her jacket torn, a cut over her eyebrow, and bruises on her arms. Those were just the ones that were visible. Can't imagine how the past ones are looking. She looked sad and in pain.

We ran up and Ryder was just about to say something when Imani held up her hand and shushed him.

She nodded slightly to the sleeping boy and glared at Ryder, he immediately shut up. Justin laughed at him and Imani switched her glare to Justin and he hushed up quick. Ryder smiled at Justin and stuck out his tongue.

Idiots, I laughed.

I walked over slowly to Dylan and picked him off of Imani's lap.

"Hey, " I whispered at him. He yawned in my arms but then went back to sleep, waving me off.

Nice to know you still love your sleep, I chuckled.

His parents were looking at us with concern so I turned over to them. "If it's alright with you, we can take Dylan home, we got this covered, " I nodded towards Imani. They nodded once and left.

"Hey, little buddy?" I called softly again. This time he murmured a little and finally began waking up.

"N-nick?" he asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"What's up, buddy?" I smiled at him.

"Nick!" he exclaimed, he shifted over and jumped on me, hugging me tightly.

"What's up little man?" Justin smiled at him.

"Yea, look at you!" Ryder exclaimed. "You're so big now, " he teased.

Dylan gasped and looked in front of me. "Justin! Ryder!" he shouted excitedly.

"Aren't you gonna hug your brothers?" Justin pouted dramatically. Dylan laughed and jumped from my arms to his and we all chuckled.

"I haven't seen you guys in forever, " he started. "Why? " he asked us looking heartbroken. The men and I made eye contact with helpless expressions.

He must've thought we left him.

You see, Dylan is an orphan. At the orphanage, he got bullied and was always told that his parents didn't want nor love him because he was such a crybaby. He took it pretty hard, thankfully the Gardens saw him at the home and decided to take him and love him.

"We had a lot of work to do, buddy, but we are here now!" I suggested while poking him. "We promise to hang out more often, " I vowed.

"Really?" he asked looking at Justin and Ryder.

"Promise, " we said in unison with a handover our hearts.

"Oh yeah, " he said turning towards Ryder. "Did you ever end up asking that pretty girl out?" he smiled, Justin and I laughed.

"Ask her out?" Ryder teased. He grabbed Raquel's hand and pulled her towards us and kissed her on the cheek. "She's my girlfriend, " he boasted.

"Hi, Ms. Pretty Lady, " Dylan grinned. "I'm Dylan, Ryder has talked a lot about you, " he confided. Ryder's eyes immediately went wide and blushed.

"You remember that?" Ryder mumbled. Justin and I were trying really hard to keep from laughing.

"Oh, is that so?" she smiled at Ryder and then looked at Dylan.

"Yes, Miss, " he nodded smiling back.

"Oh, I like him, " Raquel told me while I laughed even louder.

"You're the best, buddy, " I praised Dylan while picking him up. He was laughing while I circled around the room. He stopped laughing after a while.

"What are you guys doing here?" he questioned.

"Your parents found our friend hurting so we came to take her home, " I started. A wave of realization hit me right then and there.

Oh sh*t! Imani!

I whipped my head around and saw that Imani wasn't awake anymore, she was unconscious and leaning against the stairs.

I put Dylan down and rushed over to her. " Is she gonna be ok?" Dylan asked with concern.

"Yeah buddy, I'll do everything I can, " I promised.

Ryder, Justin, and I got to work on assessing her injuries and bandaging them with her ripped jean jacket. Dylan stayed by her the whole time and held her hand.

Once we finished I asked Justin to fetch the car with the girls as Dylan, Ryder, and I waited for them. Once Justin sent me the text that the car was ready, Ryder took Dylan onto his back while I took Imani in my arms.

I laid Imani in the back and got her situated. Then I went to sit next to Dylan as the car drove off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Dylan kept stealing peeks at Imani.

"Are you worried about her?" I asked making him jump. He looked at her and faced me again and nodded reluctantly. "You know her?" I questioned. He really didn't care about strangers all too much, I wonder how Imani was different.

He nodded his head again and sat up. "I-I met her in the movie theater, she sat next to me, " he explained. "She was very nice and funny and she was just as excited about the movie as I was, " he smiled.

"We would laugh and funny parts and get sad on the sad parts, she even shared her snacks with me!" he bragged, it made me chuckle. "Even mom and dad liked her!" he exclaimed.

Then his smile faded a bit, "She said she had to use the restroom and made me promise to tell her everything she missed when she came back, " he wavered.

" I waited a long time but she never got back, " he sniffed. "When the movie was over, mom and dad told me to wait by the stairs when they went to the restroom. When I got there, I saw her there and she looked very hurt and sad. I....I saw tears on her face, " he confessed.

He was gonna say something else but bit his lip instead. "What else happened, what's wrong?" I urged.

"I, " he started. "I don't think she fell down the stairs, " he blurted.

What?

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Thanks for reading!