Part 146
"NO!" she cried. "Nick, you can't send me home."
"Becca, be reasonable. You're sick and all this traveling hasn't helped. I talked to your doctor and-"
"You called my DOCTOR?" Becca was appalled and suddenly felt as green as Sarah had been earlier in the day.
"Becca, you passed out! I can't just ignore that, baby. If anything happened to you…"
"Nick please," she begged, sobbing openly. "Please don't send me away."
"Sweetheart, I'm not sending you away," he crooned, pulling her onto his lap and pressing her head against his chest. "You need to be at home getting ready for the baby and taking care of yourself, not traipsing around the country on a bus."
"Are you coming with me?" she asked.
"Bec, you know that's impossible," he sighed. "With the tour being all screwed up and the new video we're taping in a couple of weeks I just can't right now."
"Then I'll be there all alone. Nick, I can't be alone, not again." Her face was tear-streaked and her breathing erratic. "Please don't make me be alone." Her voice was small and Nick could hear the terror just beneath the surface.
"Becca, calm down, okay? We don’t need to decide anything today. Doctor says to put your feet up and try to relax. She wants you to call as soon as we get back to Orlando the end of the week so she can give you a full physical and an ultrasound."
"Why? What's wrong? She thinks something's wrong, doesn't she?" Becca was very close to having a meltdown and Nick had no clue how to calm her down.
"Baby, no, she just wants to make sure everything's all right. If she says it's okay then you can come back out with us. Deal?"
Becca looked up at him through watery eyes. "Really?"
"I promise, Bec. I don't want you home alone either, I just want you safe and well. Junior needs you operating at peak efficiency when he makes his debut." Nick grinned, hoping to get a rise out of her and he wasn't disappointed.
"Not to worry, I'll be fine when your little princess takes her first bow."
Nick hugged her close. "I love you Bec, I'm just worried," he whispered.
"I love you, too. I'll be fine."
They were still sitting that way when Billy appeared at the door. "Boss, they need you for sound checks. Oh, and the mayor is here too...some kind of presentation?"
"Right, I forgot about that." Setting Becca off his lap, he rose and stretched. "Look, crash here for a while. I'll leave Billy right outside in case you need me and I'll be back in a while."
"Okay," Becca yawned and stretched out unaware that Billy was watching her.
Nick went out into the arena and as Billy closed the door he heard her say something. Thinking she was talking to him, he turned back in time to hear Becca talking to herself.
"He can't find out," she whispered. "God, please, he can't know and I can't go back to that house alone."
She was crying softly as Billy closed the door, filing away what he'd just heard. For some disconcerting reason, he knew he'd need this information, and was afraid of what Nick would say when he found out. Time would tell, and he'd play it by ear before ratting out his new client. He smiled to himself, wondering just when Howie was going to break the news that he was no longer Nick's bodyguard, but Becca's.