Brawn - Laurann Dohner [98]
Her hand shook as she lifted the platter covers and her stomach rumbled when the smell hit her. She almost dropped the lids to the floor, barely managed to keep them from falling off the edge where she rested them and grabbed for the one with the big steak. She groaned, lifted it and turned to the coffee table a few feet away.
Tiger handed her silverware when she just lowered to her knees and placed the food on the table. Her hands shook worse as she unwrapped the napkin to get to the fork and knife. She didn’t look at her guests, didn’t care what they thought, since she needed to eat.
She sawed frantically at the meat, got a bite and shoved it into her mouth. The taste exploded on her tongue and she groaned. Thirst hit next after she swallowed and she turned, grabbed one of the mini cartons of milk and yanked it open. She drank, barely avoided spilling it down the sides of her mouth and set it down hard to grab for the silverware again. Her stomach rumbled and hunger gripped her as if she hadn’t eaten for a week.
“Rebecca?”
Trisha’s voice startled her enough to cause her to stop shoving food in to her mouth and turn her head. “It’s Becca, and I thought you were staying at the medical place.”
The woman held up a bottle of pills. “I forgot to give you prenatal vitamins.” Trisha frowned, moving closer and Slade followed behind her. “When is the last time you ate? You’re shaking.”
“I’m always hungry. I had a snack early this morning, ran out of milk and ran to the store before breakfast. I got held up on the way to town and then your guy was waiting at my cabin.” She finished the milk and reached for the juice, opened the top and drank deeply.
“You weren’t that pale or shaky,” Slade rumbled. “She doesn’t look good.”
“I had you looking out for me,” Trisha answered softly. “Becca? You need to eat every few hours. Your body is exhausted from the pregnancy and you need to consume more food than normal. Have you been eating red meat? You need a lot of that.”
“Yes.” Becca stabbed another bite of steak, chewed and swallowed it and some of the pain in her stomach eased. She could enjoy the food more now instead of just shoveling it down. She grabbed a soda and popped the top. She lifted and drank half of it before she set it down. “Is the thirstiness normal too? I’m always thirsty.”
No one said a word. Becca looked up to find Trisha frowning. “No.”
“It’s not normal? I just thought it was part of pregnancy.”
“It probably is but I’m going to need to run some tests on you, Becca.”
Alarm struck Becca. “What could it be?”
“I don’t know but the baby is fine. You saw him yourself and listened to his strong heartbeat. You just may be doing too much. We aren’t designed to have twenty-week pregnancies and it’s really a strain on our bodies. You have to rest and eat more.”
Becca nodded. “Okay.”
She finished the steak and ignored the baked potato. She stood and took the prime rib dinner next. She sank back to the floor and dug in, cut up her meat and ate it slowly.
“Do you usually eat this much at once?” Trisha moved closer.
Becca swallowed and eyed Trisha. “Isn’t this normal? Pregnant women eat a lot. I bought a baby book. I usually eat about nine times a day.”
“This much each meal?”
“No. I missed breakfast and lunch.”
“What is wrong?” Brawn’s voice was soft.
“Maybe nothing.” Trisha shrugged. “We’ll watch her and see how she does.”
Becca finished the soda while she ate. She opened a second one, wished she had more milk, but wasn’t about to ask someone to order some. The room was silent. Becca finally stopped focusing on her food to turn her head. Four people watched her every move and it made her angry.
“You can leave if you all are going to just stand there staring at me. I’m sorry if my table manners aren’t up to par but you’re making me uncomfortable.” She glanced around the room. “There’s no dining room table and I’m not going to sit on the couch and bend until I’m uncomfortable to reach over here.”
“We’re just worried,” Trisha explained. “That