All Chapters of SLOW BURN : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Main Port, Oregon. Three years ago.“Jacob? Can you hear me? I need you to answer me.”I blinked several times trying to focus my eyes on the woman above me, but it was hard to do.“Jacob, I need you to nod if you understand me, can you nod, please?”I tried to do as the woman asked, but my head refused to obey.“How about you blink? Blink twice if you understand me, Jacob.”That I could do.I blinked twice or at least once before my eyes closed completely.“This isn’t working. Jim? Call Dr. Ruso, we have to move him to the OR immediately, he's going to bleed to death otherwise.”OR? What the hell was going on?I opened my eyes again using what little strength I had left in me and noticed that the woman was no longer looking at me. Her attention was on something on the other side of me.I tried to raise my hand to get her attention, but my body didn’t respond. I couldn’t feel my limbs.What was happening to me?“His heart rate is going wild, Nat. We need to move him or we'll lose him.

“I hate when this happens,” I growled, finishing buttoning my clean shirt.Rocky, my four-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, whined in response, lightening mood automatically.I took one last look at the image the mirror gave me and left my room, Rocky walking beside me.“Is that foal still giving you headaches?”I stopped in my tracks when the tone of my housekeeper's voice let me know she knew why I was home.I turned to the kitchen from where Silvia was looking at me with amused eyes and rolling pin in hand.“I'm not talking about it,” I growled again, heading toward the exit. “See you in a few hours. Tell George I need him in the stables.”“George went out to the Morgan farm,” Silvia explained without being intimidated by my tone of voice.I supposed that having changed my diapers as a baby made it difficult to intimidate her.“When is he supposed to come back?” I asked, patting Rocky's head as he rested his head against my knee.“I don't know, honey. He left an hour ago. He s

“Okay, this is the last one,” I said, leaving the bunny still sedated inside the incubator where his other five siblings were.“Excellent work, Vivi. You're quick and meticulous and I appreciate you taking this job,” My boss nodded, removing his gloves. “My previous partner left the country a month ago and I’ve barely slept since then.”“Well, now you can sleep because I'm not going anywhere,” I replied, sinking into a chair. “I love this place, George. Everything is so shiny and new.”I sighed with delight as I remembered how happy I felt walking through the front door and seeing what my new workplace would be.Clean and shiny floors, a reception and a waiting room with comfortable sofas were the first things I saw when I came in.With two consulting rooms, two ORs with first-rate medical equipment, a fully equipped laboratory, a radiology room, a staff of six qualified nurses and a receptionist who took emergency calls and made appointments for people in town, the place could easily

“Listen to me, you son of a bitch. I'm not interested in hearing your fucking excuses. I told you I wouldn’t allow that kind of behavior to my female staff. Just because you have balls doesn't make you superior to them. In any case, you promote the stigma that men are animals.”“Come on, Coleman. I was just joking around with the girl. I’d be incapable of doing anything to anyone. Besides, I had to try. You don't get women like that in Red Falls, if you know what I mean.”“No, Jones, I don't know what you mean,” I growled, slamming my house’s front door once I was inside. “And you shouldn't know either. You're married, for God's sake.”“Please, Coleman, I've been with this woman for forty years. She doesn't get it up anymore,” He said, laughing in my ear. “She knows it and accepts it and rather insists me to look for something out there.”I really doubted his wife shared the same opinion about their marriage.“I don't care what your wife thinks, Darren, I care what the women who work

“Hmmhmm…that's a man.”“I saw him first. He's mine.”“You haven't done anything to undress him, so I'm starting to believe he’s isn’t yours at all. Maybe I should find out if he's straight-straight or straight-curious...”“You know I'm capable of kicking your balls, Pete. It wouldn't be the first time I did it.”“You wouldn't dare to do that to the father of your daughter, baby.”I couldn't help but snort at that.“I did all the work, pal. You weren't of much help in that conception.”“I massaged your feet every night,” He reminded me, making me smile. “And your back. And don't forget about the cravings you had every night, baby. I had to go to the other side of the city to get those stuffed peppers you liked to throw up afterwards.”“You can't forget the heartburn.”“My God, fucking heartburn.” He shook his head, trying to hide his amusement. “Thanks to you, there was a shortage of TUMS in the city.”“Taylor's pregnancy was kind of interesting, wasn't it?” I remembered every moment w