Dysarthria | Dialogue Story ✔

Bonus Chapter 5: Please Forgive Me

Debbie looked dreadful; there were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. She didn't bother getting dressed in decent summer wear as she threw on a random black hoodie and a pair of sweats. Her hair was all over the place which was proof that she had a restless sleep.

With cautious steps, Cory moved toward the threshold to get a peek at Gracie. He surveyed her injuries up and down.

Like Mrs. Summers said, her face was peppered with cuts that were being treated by bandages. Her left arm was in a cast as well as in a sling and a frown marred her face as soon as she saw Cory enter the room.

"What are you doing here?"

Cory took note of the bitterness in her tone and her eyes that were narrowed to slits. Now that she was in front of him and he saw that she was okay, he was nervous to talk to her. What he did was unforgivable. How was he going to get her to listen to him if she was visibly pissed off? "How bad was it?"

With her family in the room still upset about the accident, Gracie decided she needed to lighten the mood somehow.

"At least I had a good twenty-four-year streak of not having broken a bone."

Between her mom and siblings, they must've had ten knee surgeries combined. She took pride in never needing surgery because she wasn't as athletic as her brothers and sister.

"How about we give these two some privacy?" You could tell by Debbie's voice that she was tired. The people in Arizona drove like idiots. Always speeding and cutting people off. It was one of her biggest pet peeves she developed when they moved there from Washington.

When she drove with Gracie in the car, she was always careful to not get in a wreck and she wouldn't know how to live with herself if something happened to her. Debbie swiped away a tear and followed everyone else out of the room.

Looking into Gracie's eyes, Cory didn't know how to start his apology. He was drunk when it all went down, but that didn't excuse what he did. He didn't have to take that many shots. He didn't even have to go out.

He should've came over to Gracie's parents' house for dinner like he was supposed to. Damn Jake was the one who pressured him to, claiming that they weren't gonna be that long.

Fourteen hours earlier...

"Where the hell are you, Cory?" Gracie whispered to herself.

Debbie went through all the trouble of cooking wet burritos for over an hour preparing for dinner with Cory and his parents. Both sets of parents hadn't been able to get to know each other since Super Bowl Sunday when they all went out for drinks to celebrate.

After all of the stress Mrs. Summers had been feeling all day about making dinner and making the house feel homey for their guests, Cory's parents were kind enough to still show up, but Cory was a different story.

"I'm so sorry, Debbie. Really. This isn't like Cory to ditch us when he knew we had plans. Let me give him a call." Sydney excused herself from the table, subtlety expressing her frustration with her son by slamming her napkin on the table.

Gracie was starting to overthink about where he was. There had to be a good enough reason why he wasn't here like we planned for the past week. Maybe he was in a wreck. Maybe he was in the hospital and the nurses just hadn't called his parents yet. I sent him one more text.

Baby Girl ❤️:
Sent 8:27pm

Baby, you're scaring me. I'm getting worried about you over here. At least text me back so I know you're okay.