After Beth began putting apples into everything she could to give Trevor bad stomachaches so she could nurse him, things continued.  One night when she put half apples, half potatoes in "mashed taters", he said, "These taste really sweet. What's in them?"

"Just potatoes," she lied. "They're sweet because they're a new kind of potato."

"They taste great," he said. "I just wondered."


He didn't know but the gravy had apple juice in it and an hour after dinner, he raised his shirt and rubbed his stomach. "I've got another stomach ache," he told her. "Man, it really hurts, too."

"Do you want me to rub it?" she asked.

"Yes, please but I don't know why I keep getting stomach pains when I'm not eating apples."

"Is there something else that hurts your tummy?" She hoped there was because she was tired of peeling apples.

"Oh, yeah, several things," he said with a little moan.  "Anything with any kind of garlic gives me bad indigestion and so do onions.  And beans, any kind of beans."


The next night for supper she mixed refried beans with raw hamburger meat to make a meatloaf.  She put in lots of garlic powder and onions chopped fine so they would cook up and he'd never know.  And she made more mashed potatoes with apples in them and threw in some onions.  And made brownies with mashed up beans baked into them.

Trevor ate two plates and praised her cooking.  Two hours later, watching television he got a funny look.  Beth watched as he put his hand over his stomach.  Even across the room she could hear the gurgles and noises.  Five minutes later, he doubled over his stomach with a groan. "Oh, man, my belly hurts," he cried. "It's hurting so much and I can't figure out why."

"Maybe it's stress," she said. "Do you want to tell me where and how it hurts?

"I've got a lot of gas," he moaned. "And it just hurts, sharp and intense. I haven't had a bellyache this bad in years, not since I figured out what caused them.  Ohhhhh."

"Want me to rub it?"  "No, not right now it hurts too much."

He lay on his back on the couch and held his belly, moaning and bitching how much it hurt. His belly looked swollen to her, bigger than usual but she watched the show with secret enjoyment.

THe bellyache lasted all night and he stayed hom from work in the morning. "I think I need to see a doctor," he told her, still clutching his gut.

"Sure," she said. "Or would you rather go to the hospital?"

THey ended up in the ER but he had to wait awhile because there were bigger medical problems than stomachaches. WHen a doctor finally checked him out, the man said, "So you got a little tummyache?"?

"No," Trevor moaned. "I have a huge, incredible, awful bellyache and I've had it all night."

They did every test they could but by then, the pain was starting to ease off and no one could find anything wrong with Trevor's stomach so the doctor pronounced it "acute indigestion" and sent him home.

He laid down for a nap and Beth plotted just what she'd feed him for supper when he woke up.