Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Skin Deep. Chapter Three: In Control

Again today I'm sharing a chapter of our newest Progressive Story Project. This project is presented a few times a year and is a fiction writing collaboration among a group of bloggers. Each writer takes a turn adding their voice to a single story. No one knows what the story is about or what has been written before them until it's their turn to write.

Progressive Story Project, one piece of fiction written by a group of bloggers, each contributing to but not controlling the story | Presented by www.BakingInATornado.com | #blogging #collaboration #MyGraphics



Skin Deep started two weeks ago with Chapter One: Secrets. Be sure to go back and read the first two chapters before moving on.


Skin Deep, a Progressive Story Project. One piece of fiction written by multiple bloggers | Presented by BakingInATornado.com | #fiction #writers



Skin Deep
Chapter Three: In Control

Rena of The Blogging 911:


Isabelle woke up disoriented and in pain. Her eyes looked around trying to decipher the machines and the people. "Where am I? Where's my baby?" she croaked, her throat burning with every syllable. She looked down the length of her body and saw nothing but a sea of white gauze and her panic went into overdrive. "Where am I?" she said forcefully as her throat tried to claw out the sounds she was trying to make.


"Isabelle, over here. I'm Dr. Tangier and you are in the Houston Burn Center. We're taking very good care of you. How do you feel?" The doctor held onto her fingers because everywhere would have been intolerable for her.


"Hurts . . . a lot. Where's my little girl? Where's Catherine?" The stress of trying to get answers was adding to her pain and you could see it etched across her face.


"Relax, she'll be here in the morning. She's on her way. Your friend is having her flown in on a private plane," the doctor continued.

"Who? Who?" It was no use. She fell back onto the bed exhausted from the fear and agony. She was out a moment later.


"She should sleep until morning," the nurse said. I just gave her morphine to help with the pain. She'll need that and more in the coming days. Poor girl! It must have been terrifying. Have they found the cause of the explosion yet?"



Jack stared at Isabelle's sleeping form. Frowning as his eyes took in how tiny she seemed under the sea of bandages. The fire had burned her from shoulder to just below her knees. Most of the damage on her right side, the side that was facing out as he carried her. He had only suffered minor burns on his arms and hands. Nothing too bad. He would heal quickly. His thumb rubbed along his bandaged arm. Isabelle would heal too, he would see to it. All these years of watching over her. He should have stayed away, but he just couldn't go another day without being actively in her life.

Not too long after his cruise had ended, he looked up the woman who had stolen his heart, and had been surprised to find her to be pregnant. He immediately knew the baby was his, and a secret DNA test performed after her birth confirmed that he was a father. He had waited all these years, hoping she would look him up and tell him about their beautiful daughter. He had anonymously helped her in every way he could. He sent "clients" her way that were paid by him. Before that, he had awarded a scholarship to her that covered the unpaid balance of her tuition. He had given her real estate agent a large bonus to show her the houses he pre-selected, and then had her tell Isabelle the prices were hundreds of thousands less than the real prices. Yes, he had provided for them any way he could.

Now, thanks to him, she was laying here wounded, and this is one thing he could not fix.

The nurse's voice broke through his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

"Have they figured out what caused the explosion yet, Mr. Collins?" she asked again.

"A bomb," he answered, his voice strained. "A bomb had been rigged up to my door and when she had fidgeted with the knob to leave, it activated it. Thankfully she didn't fully open the door and had walked away a few feet."

"I hope they find the person who caused this," the nurse said, squeezing his arm before leaving to care for other patients.

The person would be found. If the authorities could not figure it out, his people would definitely figure it out. As it stood his lead bodyguard had not stopped trying to find out any information he could. He was wracked by guilt. Had he done his early morning check rather than sleeping in, he would have seen the device attached to the door. Jack had told Dave not to feel bad, Jack had planned on having a late sleep in with Isabelle and had asked him to take the morning easy. If anyone was at fault it was Jack himself. The bomb had obviously been meant to harm him. He would fix this. Thankfully the device had not gone off as badly as it was intended to so the damage was not as extensive as it could have been. The doctors told him that Isabelle's burns weren't that bad, they would heal completely, and surgeries would be able to lessen the scarring. She would have the best care money could buy.

He would take care of her and their daughter, and not in secret any more. He would not reveal that he knew Cat was his daughter. He would give her more time, to tell him in her own way. He owed her that much.

The buzzing of his phone interrupted his thoughts. He saw Dave's name flashing on the screen and hit "talk".


~~~~~~~ Before you go, check out today's recipe. And be sure to stop by 2 weeks from today for the final chapter of Skin Deep ~~~~~~~


White and Dark Chocolate Pie, a fudgy dark chocolate pie made with white chocolate chips and white chocolate liqueur | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #chocolate

White and Dark Chocolate Pie
White and Dark Chocolate Pie, a fudgy dark chocolate pie made with white chocolate chips and white chocolate liqueur | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #chocolate



Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics





White and Dark Chocolate Pie        
                                            ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pie crust, bottom only
1 TBSP flour

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 TBSP heavy cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP powdered sugar
2 TBSP white chocolate liqueur

4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup white chocolate liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBSP flour 
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

chocolate shavings

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1 TBSP flour onto a pie crust, then turn upside down into a 10 inch pie plate. Pat down.
*In a microwave, melt the dark chocolate chips with the heavy cream until smooth. Set aside.
*Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and 2 TBSP white chocolate liqueur. Beat until stiff peaks hold. Refrigerate.
*In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, eggs, 1/4 cup white chocolate liqueur, vanilla, sugar and flour until smooth. Mix in the white chocolate chips.
*Remove the whipped cream from the fridge and fold half into the cream cheese mixture. Place remaining whipped cream back into the fridge.
*Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 30 minutes. It should puff up and form a crust. Remove from oven and cool completely. 
*Top with remaining whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate shavings.
 


10 comments:

  1. Burns are brutal, long recovery, draining issues, scaring and more but if they are not too bad????
    Now this recipe looks fantastic. White chocolate liqueur is new to me. I can always count on you Karen to come up with some liqueur I am unfamiliar with like the raspberry one used in a recipe this summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stick with me, I'll give your whole liquor cabinet a make over.

      Delete
  2. I was wondering, at the end of the last chapter, how the next author would deal with the explosion. Now, I continue, hooked, and impatient to see the end. As for that recipe - how rich. I can only dream...Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, one more chapter to go. Hope you love the ending.

      Delete
  3. This is SOOOO good! The twists. The turns. The romance!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm literally hanging on the edge of my seat on this one. It could go so many ways!

    ReplyDelete

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