I hate House Shows. No, wait, maybe hate is too strong a word for how I feel about the non-televised performances. It would be safer to say that I strongly dislike House Shows. At least right now. Maybe it's partially due to the fact that I know we aren't being taped and therefore allowed more leeway with what happens in the ring, maybe it's partly because tonight I just don't feel well.

Either way, I'd much rather be anyplace else except where I find myself right now. Which is in my locker room, warming up for my tag team match against Rated RKO. I can feel my head pounding and my throat is a bit scratchy. I reach over and pick up my bottled water from the bench next to me and unscrew the cap. Can't have a scratchy voice if I'm going on the mic tonight. The water is cool and soothing as I take a few swallows before capping the bottle again and setting it down next to me.

I wipe the extra moisture from my lips and cough lightly into a closed fist. If I can make it past tonight's match, we won't have any appearances for the next four days. I could then rest up and shake whatever has gotten a hold of my body. My head does not agree with that thought and pounds more insistently, urging me to listen. Which of course I don't.

I continue to stretch and limber up my muscles, doing the best I can, when the locker room door opens and allows my tag team partner into the room. I can see from the slight sheen of sweat already covering his broad shoulders that he has already warmed up. He looks ready to attack someone, even with the smile upon his face that he bestows on me. I can tell he sure is feeling good tonight. He should, as he has passed his malady on to me. Hard to believe that four days ago he was sick in a bed, whining about how ill he felt, and getting waited on hand and foot.

Now tonight he was on top of his game while I was the one feeling under the weather. I finish the last of my stretching exercises and try to shake this feeling of ill that has gripped me tonight. I'm hoping I don't look as bad as I feel, for I do have an image to portray, even if it is a lousy House Show.

My partner shatters that illusion with his first words to me. "You okay, Shawn? You look like shit."

I hadn't been aware that he had been scrutinizing my appearance while I had been stretching. Now I could see the faint look of concern in his hazel eyes as he rakes them up and down my body.

I shrug and try to brush him off. "I'm fine, just a bit tired." I get up off the bench and go to my bag to get my T-shirt that I'll be wearing to the ring. "I've never liked this cold weather."

He senses that there is more but wisely doesn't say anything. He just shrugs back at me and gives me that smile again. The one that says without saying a word that he's glad it isn't him. He claps me on the back once and reaches for the door. "Our match is up next. I'll be waiting at gorilla."

With those final words he slips out the door and is gone as quickly as he had appeared. I sigh loudly in the now empty room and walk over to the sinks. One quick look at my image in the mirror and I can tell that he is right. I do look like shit. I place my shirt next to the sink and ponder what to do next. I don't have much time, as I know the match now ongoing will be ending shortly.

Turning on the faucets, I splash some cool water on my face and try to rub the dark circles from under my eyes. It helps a bit as the cool water relieves some of the puffiness that had been forming there. I cup a handful of the water and wet the top of my head, using the liquid to tame the frizzy locks of my hair.

I turn off the water and grab a few paper towels, drying my face and hands before grabbing my comb and quickly fixing my hair into my normal ponytail hairstyle. It was then that I noticed that my nose was starting to run. I roll my eyes and pull out a few more paper towels giving it a quick blow and a rub to tend to it. A glance back at my image showed a more presentable, yet still pale reflection. It would have to do.

I grabbed my shirt and carefully placed it over my head and shoulders, not wanting to muss my hair just yet. That will come soon enough with our time in the ring. At least I wouldn't have to blade myself tonight, and for that small bit, I am thankful. House shows are good for that at least. No one really expects blood.

I open the door to our locker room and make my way backstage, trying to smile and act my normal, happy self. I find Hunter exactly where he said he would be, and that is waiting just at the curtain to the ramp, looking at a nearby monitor as he waited for the match onscreen to end. House Shows may not be filmed live, but there are cameras present to allow filming for the Titantron.

He glances up at me and nods. I take my position next to him as the match concludes with Jeff Hardy giving Johnny Nitro a Swanton Bomb off the top turnbuckle for the pin. The bell rings and Lillian announces Jeff as the winner.

I turn away from the curtains to cough again, earning myself a strange look from Hunter before he focuses his attention to the wrestlers now coming backstage. Nitro is first, looking quite tired and very sore.

Next comes Hardy, his face glowing with the joy from his win. Yes, it was just a House Show, but a victory is a victory nonetheless. He greets us with a few high-fives before making his way backstage to the locker room area.

Our match is next, and I take the last few minutes to try to shake the cobwebs out of my brain. My nose is running again but this time I have nothing nearby with which to blow it on so I just sniff loudly and rub the back of my hand under it. Hunter is too busy to notice me now, as he prepares for our entrance. He's got a water bottle in one hand and has put on one of the DX T-shirts.

Our music hits and I know now that it's time to go.

Are you ready?

That music never fails to pump me up as the first beats hit the arena. I can hear the crowd start to pop and I smile to myself. Funny how little things can make people happy.

You think you can tell us what to do?

I bounce in place lightly, it's just about time. I always get hyped behind the curtain. It helps me get in the proper mind set for being in the ring.

You think you can tell us what to wear? You think that you're better? Well you better get ready... to bow to the masters...

Here we go... I see Hunter now move the curtain and the roar of the crowd doubles.

Break it down!!!

Hunter leads the way out of the gorilla position and the stadium erupts as I follow him out. Our music is the drumbeat behind us, but I no longer focus on the words, I'm filled with intensity now, feeling the enthusiasm from this packed arena. We reach the ring while the music is still playing and take up our positions, with him on my right and raise our arms.

I lower one quickly to scrub at my leaking nose again which earns me a frown from Hunter. I put the arm back up and on the count of three we do the DX crotch chop. Three chops and the pyro hits behind us, then a single chop.

We go to the turnbuckles and do a few poses, then I go and get the microphone. I run around the ring with it a few times as the crowd continues to cheer. Finally the music stops and I hand the mic over to Hunter.

He glances at the capacity crowd and brings the mic to his lips. "Quiet, please." He waits a minute as the crowd settles down some. "Can we have quiet please?" He asks again and the noise dims a bit more.

I feel a tickle starting to grow in the back of my nose and sniff while rubbing it against my shoulder. Now is not a good time for my body to be doing anything out of the ordinary. I focus my attention on Hunter and try to ignore my symptoms. He's looking out at the crowd. "Hartford... Are you ready?"

The stadium erupts again and he smiles. "I said ... ARE.. YOU.. READY?" He is yelling into the mic and the audience is eating it up. The noise is now so loud that he has to wait again so that he can do his next part.

It quiets again and I get into my position, bent in half, hands on my knees while he does his bit. "For the thousands in attendance," he starts out. My nose is itching again, so I wiggle it, and sniff deeply.

"And for the millions not watching at home," he continues as the audience erupts in laughter. "Hey, it's a House Show, we aren't live." This itch is maddening but I don't want to call any further attention to myself.

"Lllllettts get ready to... SUCK IT!!" He yells now and raises the mic while doing a one handed crotch chop. The crowd is wild and crazy, popping and cheering. He hands the mic to me and I know now that it's time to do my bit. I take it with a small sniff and a rub of my nose that is now feeling like there are 1000 ants crawling inside it. He raises one eyebrow as I turn away from him.

"And of course if you're not down with that," my breath catches momentarily as the itch has now built into the urgent need to sneeze. Somehow I hold it back, but it's a fight. "Then we've got," my breath catches again and Hunter is staring at me like I've grown a second head on my shoulders. "Two words for you," I rush the last bit out as I lose the battle with the sneeze. "Heh-KESHhhhh!"

The audience was in the process of screaming "SUCK IT!" when the sneeze reverberated through the whole arena. I had barely enough presence of mind to pull the mic away from my face, but it still picked it up. The yell of "SUCK IT!" quickly changed to a yell of "BLESS YOU!!"

Hunter had retrieved another mic while I stood frozen to the spot, completely and totally embarrassed. I felt my cheeks grow hot as I blushed furiously. I wished the ring would open up and swallow me.

Hunter was giggling and nearly choking on his laughter. "Gesundheit, Shawn."

I finished wiping my nose with the back of my hand and wiped that on my pants leg. "Uh, thanks," I said to him and to the entire building for the impromptu blessing. I was mortified by now and quickly turned my mic off. I changed my mind about House Shows, as I would have died had that been live.

Hunter handed over his mic to the referee as Edge's music started. I walked over to our corner and removed my shirt. Hunter joined me as Rated RKO made their way to the ring. He was still smiling and trying very hard not to laugh.

I shoot him a death glare. With the way I was feeling, being humorous was not on my agenda.

"Well, it was funny, Shawn." he states pointedly as he keeps one eye on the tag team champions.

I'm saved from having to make any other replies as the referee has started the match. Edge starts out against Hunter and I'm left on the apron watching and waiting for my turn. My nose begins itching again and it's all I can do to keep my concentration on what is going on in front of me. My mind keeps drifting toward thoughts of the hotel room bed, some pillows and some warm blankets.

I'm jolted back to reality by a slap on my shoulder. Hunter had obviously been reaching for a tag and I hadn't been paying attention. "Sorry," I mumble to him and take his place in the ring. I notice that I'm up against Orton now. When had they changed places? Had I been daydreaming that long? I toss Orton into the far turnbuckle and give him a couple of knife edge chops across the chest then climb the turnbuckles to give him a couple of shots to the head as well.

I sniff loudly as I'm climbing and I can hear Orton mocking me from below. "Whatsa matta, Shawn? You gotta cold?"

"Shut up," I reply and begin hammering on his head. About the third punch, I have to turn away to sneeze again. "ehh-KEHHTchhhh! Hehh-EKKTshhhh!" The double sneeze caught me off-guard and I tried to smother most of it in my shoulder.

"Ewww!" I hear Orton say from below me and he shoves me off of him. "You sneezed on me!"

I fall off my perch and land on my butt hard. I already felt miserable so I allowed my misery to show on my face. The audience was eating this up. I hear a slap of a tag being made and groan. Orton may be the whiner of the two, but Edge was the stiffer. He didn't like to pull his punches much when in the ring. That spear could really hurt.

Edge pulls me up by my hair. He gives me a couple shots to the head which I'm now not in any state of awareness to block. He throws me into the turnbuckle hard. I know instinctively that he's setting me up for the spear, so at the last moment, I sidestep and he goes crashing into the ring post.

I look around and spy Hunter on the apron, trying to get the crowd into this. I hear the chants of 'HBK' and try to allow that energy to fuel me. Edge is now moving toward me. I pick him up in a scoop slam and drop him to the mat hard.

I go to the turnbuckle to climb it to give him the flying elbow, but as I reach the top, my nose betrays me yet again. "Heh-ehhhShooo! EhhhKetchhh!" The sneezes this time throws me off balance and I miss the elbow shot. I slam into the canvas hard, taking most of the fall on my back. The pain upon impact is immense. I roll around on the mat for a bit, trying to allow the pain a chance to subside.

Edge gets up and drags me over to his corner where Orton grabs my feet and pulls me so that I am straddling the ring post. Edge has the referee distracted or something because this is not being stopped. I'm too busy trying to pull my feet back in the ring, but Orton has a firm grip and yanks hard until my groin smashes into the steel. This new anguish overshadows my back pain and I fold up in half.

I hear boos from the crowd as Edge scoops me up and tries for the bodyslam but I use my weight to push him down and pummel him repeatedly on the face and neck. My body is in agony and all I want to do now is tag out. I climb off Edge and run for the ropes as he gets back up to give him a clothesline, but he tackles me with the same maneuver. I fall to the mat gasping for air.

I lay there just breathing, trying to get my wind back. Between my nose running, my sneezing and my off sense of balance I wasn't doing very well this match.

I hear Edge moving around and turn my head slightly.. He's heading back towards his corner and it's all I can do to drag myself back to my own corner where I barely am able to make the tag to Hunter who is really looking at me oddly.

I collapse on the apron, my head swimming. I hear the match going on in the ring and I try to stand so that I can help if needed. It takes two tries before I find my balance and I focus on the activity going on. Hunter is being double teamed so I duck through the ropes and head towards Edge who has his back towards me, probably thinking I'm still down.

He turns around and I nail him with a superkick. It wasn't planned but it worked out perfectly. Hunter is still pounding on Orton so I step back and head towards our corner. I hear the crowd pop and see Hunter finishing up his pedigree on Orton. He then goes for the cover and gets the 1,2, 3. I hear the bell and our music starts to play as Lillian announces us as the winners.

The referee walks over and raises my hand, and Hunter's hand too. The crowd is popping and I'm just glad it's over. My nose is running again and as I go to wipe it I manage to stifle what would have been a rather wet sneeze. "HehhheCHIshh!"

I sniff back any remaining tickles as I rub under my nose. Hunter is pointing up the ramp and I know it's time to leave the ring which I am more than happy to do. I slide out under the bottom rope and start to head up the ramp. I know that Hunter is following behind me.

We get greeted by a few people on our way back to our locker room and got a few words of encouragement along the way. I kept my head down and my talking to a minimum just so we could get to the room quicker.

Once we did and I was safely inside I grabbed a few paper towels and collapsed on the bench. Everything on my body hurt, or was throbbing, and all I kept thinking about was that nice bed waiting for me back at the hotel.

I rest my head in my hands, crumpling up the paper towels as I did so. I didn't care.

Hunter stepped over to my side and rested one hand on my back. "Shawn, are you okay?"

I shake my head a little bit and moan.

"Want me to get a trainer?"

"No," I tell him as I raise my head some. "I'll be fine. I just want to shower and get back to the hotel."

"You sure?" he questions me again. "You don't look so good."

I start to answer him but end up burying my nose into the paper towels. "EhhhKetchhh! HahChuhhh!" I blow my nose afterwards and sigh.

"Gesundheit."

"Thanks." I rest my head back on one of my hands, the other is holding the crumpled and well used paper towels.

"You caught my cold, didn't you?" he asks me after a moment of silence.

I nod and crane my head to look up at him. "That's a very good guess."

He reaches for my arm. "Come on, Shawn. Let's get you in the shower and back to the hotel. Becca is gonna kill me for this."

I let him lead me towards the showers, tossing the paper towels into a nearby trash bin as I passed it. "I don't think she will, it was unavoidable. Besides, it's just a small cold. I'll be over it in a few days and everything will be fine."

He turns on the hot water and allows it to run for a bit to get it going. "I guess that is why your timing was off in the ring today?"

"Yeah." I bend down to take off my boots and almost fall over. It was Hunter's fast reflexes that kept me from hitting the floor. He drags me over to a bench and sits me down.

"Feet up, Shawn." he orders.

I groan. "Hunter, I can take off my own boots."

"Sure you can, that's why you almost kissed the tiles. Feet up, Shawn." He starts reaching down to my feet when I'm reluctant to raise them.

Not having enough energy to fight him I allow him to remove my boots and socks which he stuffs into the boots. He then stands me up. "Can you remove the tights or do I need to do that as well?"

I toss him a look that says that he better not even try it. "I can do it, I'm not a kid."

He backs down holding up both hands in front of him. "Okay, okay. I'm going to get you a towel and some Tylenol. Get washed up so we can both get back to the hotel."

He leaves the showers and I slowly remove my tights, tossing them in a ball on top of my boots. I move back the curtain and step under the hot spray. The water feels good on my skin, even better on my sore muscles. I reach for the soap that is on a nearby shelf and quickly soap up my body then rinse the suds away before working on my hair. A quick lather up and rinse, then condition and rinse and I was ready to get out of the shower. I stick my head out of the curtain to find Hunter standing there holding a towel.

"You done?" He asks me.

I reach back in and turn off the water before sticking my hand out to take the towel. He hands it to me and I disappear back into the shower stall to quickly dry my body off and wrap the towel around my waist. I step out from behind the curtain and shiver in the cold air. My head has gone beyond pounding and throbbing to a new level of pain as I place one hand on the wall to hold me up. I'm also starting to feel a bit dizzy. I lean against the wall for a moment, trying to restore my sense of equilibrium.

Hunter takes my arm and wraps it behind his neck. "Come on now," he tells me as he leads me towards the main locker room area. We get there and he sits me on a bench and brings me my bag which he places at my feet. He also hands me a bottle of water and pops open the cap on the bottle of Tylenol he was carrying. "How many?"

"Three," I advise him and uncap the water bottle. He hands me the pills and I swallow them in a quick gulp of water. I manage to cap the water bottle just before the next series of sneezes hits my chilled body. "Heh-eh" I gasp as my eyes flutter closed with the effort of drawing out the sneezes. "Heh-KESHhhh! Heh-EhhShoo!" They finally hit me and I whimper from the extra pain going through my forehead. I had only made half an effort to cover them with one hand which I now rubbed on the towel.

Hunter reached into my bag and pulled out one of the handkerchiefs that Becca makes me carry around. He places it in my hand. "Blow."

I oblige him only because my nose was still running and felt quite congested even after the sneezes. Once done, I look up at him. "Happy now?"

"Can you manage to get dressed while I hop in the shower?" He grabs a towel from his bag on a nearby shelf.

I swallow, wincing at the pain in my throat that is slowly turning into raw fire. "Yeah. I think so."

He pats me on a the back a few times. "It will all pass quickly, Shawn." Then he turns and disappears down the hallway that I had just left. I reach into my bag and pull out my underwear, my jeans and a T-shirt. I also pull out the sweater Becca made me pack and a pair of socks.

By the time Hunter has returned I'm mostly dressed, and just finishing up putting on my sweater and boots. He looks healthy and clean while I feel sick and tired. He hands me my tights and boots which I had left back in the shower area. I take them and stuff them in my bag and zip the thing closed.

He starts getting dressed unashamedly in front of me, but I'm not really paying any attention to anything other than my traitorous runny nose and my throbbing head. I've finished off the water he had brought me and now I'm partially leaning against the wall. As I swallow, I begin to cough, bringing one fist close to my mouth but lacking the effort to really keep it there.

The spasm passes and I slump back against the wall. "Hurry up," I partially whine and partially croak.

He turns to me. "I'm doing the best I can. Just close your eyes and rest."

I do so, letting my eyes slide closed and thinking of the cool sheets waiting for me back at the hotel. It's the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

To Be Continued