Welcome to Life Behind the Walls!

This is a nifty little collection of circumstances that I wondered how the NS would deal with. Each story can be read and enjoyed without having to read the others - although I hope you'll enjoy them all. I do warn however that they were written after having read all the books to date so if you haven't read that far you may find some spoilers amongst these pages. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the New Species series or any of it's characters. They are all products of the Lovely Laurann Dohner and her boundless imagination. I just borrow them from time to time to do naughty things with. :p

Enjoy!

Sick Days

It all started with a sniffle.

Valiant's head whipped around and he stared at Tammy's snuggled form in the bed. She was barely awake, having partially awoke when he had left the bed only moments ago. He crept on silent feet to the edge of the bed and look down at his Tammy carefully.

Her nose was red and her slightly parted lips dry, her hair sticking to her damp forehead. He crouched down beside her and sniffed delicately, not wanting to wake her. Her scent seemed stronger and when he reached to brush her hair back he was shocked at the heat radiating from her skin.

Valiant's eyes narrowed. Something was definitely wrong with his mate. "Tammy?" He tried to keep the growl out of his voice but his worry plagued him.

"Hmmm..." Tammy murmured, blue eyes fluttering open. "What's wrong?"

And there is was again. She sniffled.

Valiant growled.

"You're ill." He resolved, staring into her clouded eyes.

Tammy smiled at him softly, knowing the growl in his tone was because he worried about her. "It's just a cold. I'm just going to stay in bed and rest for a bit and it'll go away." She patted his hand. "Don't worry."

Valiant eyed her carefully before slowly nodding.

Tammy yawned and pulled the blankets up around her chin, curling around her pillow and falling back to sleep.

Valiant watched her for a few long moments, worry eating at him. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken her to the river yesterday. Perhaps he shouldn't have convinced her to let him strip her and taste her among the wildflowers that grew along the bank. He held back a snarl, not wishing to wake his mate.

He got to his feet and slipped from the room. He padded barefoot downstairs and went straight to the phone. He punched in the extension that would connect him to Doc Trisha at Medical. The phone rang once and Paul answered. He asked for Trisha only to be told she wasn't in currently. Paul asked if he could help and Valiant hung up. He wouldn't trust his Tammy to some unknown male. He dialed the number for Slade's residence. The phone rang three times before Slade answered, a growled "What?" The only greeting.

"I need to speak to Trisha."

"She's sleeping." Slade grumbled.

"Wake her."

"Valiant, what is this about? Trisha worked late last night at medical. She needs her sleep."

"My mate is ill." Valiant confessed, feeling like he had failed Tammy.

"Ill?" Slade's voice sharpened. "What's wrong? Have you called medical?"

"I'm calling Doc Trisha." Valiant pointed out.

Slade snarled. "Fine. One minute."

Valiant heard soft words as Slade roused his mate. The next voice that came across the line was Trisha's, sounding sleep roughened but serious. "Valiant? Slade says Tammy is ill. What happened?"

His eyes closed as he said harshly. "She sniffles."

"Sniffles?" Trisha sounded like she wasn't sure she had heard right.

"Yes. Her skin is hot and she sniffles."

There was silence on the other end for a solid minute.

"Valiant, it sounds like she probably has a cold."

"A cold?" He wasn't sure what that was but it didn't sound comfortable. His Tammy didn't like being cold.

"Yes. A cold is when we get the sniffles, maybe a cough. We sneeze and sometimes get a fever. It usually lasts a few days but it's not serious and it will go away in time. Just let her rest and I'll get medical to send some medicine over to make her more comfortable."

"Thank you, Trisha." Valiant hung up and started pacing. He was still pacing twenty minutes later when a Jeep pulled up outside his house. He stepped out on the porch into the predawn light and headed for the fenced edge of his yard.

Slash climbed out of the Jeep and came forward, a brown paper bag in his hand. "Doc Trisha said you needed cold medication and she had them add in a few extras. There's Kleenex, a thermometer and some sort of candy your mate is supposed to eat if she gets a sore throat. Trisha said she'd get the cafeteria to send over meals for her and that she'd be by later."

Valiant gathered the bag up, nodded his thanks, and hurried back to his mate. He was a male on a mission.

x x x

Trisha entered Valiant's yard with Slade at her side. He had seemed surprised when the feline Species hadn't met them at the front gate which was his usual way. Valiant was pretty touchy about his territory and doubly so now that his mate and son were on it.

"Tammy must be seriously ill if Valiant is too distracted to guard his territory himself." Slade commented, amazed. They had run into Leo a little ways away and the male had seemed surprise that Valiant had given him orders to keep an extra eye out for intruders.

They took the steps together and Trisha reached out to knock on the door. A great pounding noise thunder through the house before she could touch it and the door jerked open, a stressed looking Valiant revealed.

Trisha jerked back, bumping into Slade, who wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her into his side, emitting a growl.

"She's upstairs." Valiant stepped back and gestured them in. He turned without another word and stormed back up the stairs.

Trisha looked up at her mate and shared a confused look before hesitantly following the large Species inside. They past two Species females in the living room who were playing with Valiant and Tammy's son, Noble, on the floor. She waved at the child and he grinned back, about to say something when a growled, "Hurry up.", came from upstairs.

The couple followed orders.

Trisha stopped dead when she reached the door of the bedroom, staring at the spectacle before her.

Little Tammy was buried under almost a dozen blankets, pillows stacked up behind her back. There was a box of Kleenex, a pile of magazines and two remotes on the bed beside her. The television had been hauled upstairs and was on low volume across the room. Three glasses containing various drinks and a covered tray of food were at her elbow on the nightstand and Valiant himself sat at the edge of the arm chair in the corner, watching and at the ready to take care of his mate's slightest want.

"Hey Trisha!" Tammy said with a smile and follow up sniffle, giving her already red nose a swipe with a tissue.

Out of the corner of her eye, Trisha caught Valiant twitch and frown, golden eyes narrowing.

"Hello Tammy, I see your doing well."

"She is not well." Valiant snarled, face tense.

Tammy shot him a look and sighed. "I'm fine, just a bit of a cold. As you can see, I'm relaxing. As decreed." Tammy smirked.

Trisha held back a laugh, not wanting to insult Valiant for his over the top care of his ill mate. "I'm glad to see your well taken care of." She went forward to sit on the bed beside Tammy and dropped her medical bag at her feet. "Have you been running a temperature?"

Tammy shook her head. "I was a little chilled when I woke up but..." She gestured at the mess of bedding around her with a grin, blue eyes twinkling. "That's no longer an issue. I think Valiant raided the nearby residents' homes for extra blankets. I know we don't have this many in the house."

Trisha laughed. "Well, it's nice to hear your recovery has community support. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to get their blankets back. Now, how are you feeling? Sinus headache? Were you able to eat?"

Her patient leaned back into the mass of pillows and almost disappeared. "Yeah, the soup was great and the medicine seemed to take care of the slight headache. Not to mention stopped me from sneezing. I think the first one nearly made Valiant jump out of his skin."

Trisha smirked. "All right, is there anything you want or need? I'll make sure to send over some more cold medicine to help you sleep tonight."

"Uh well," Tammy blushed and glanced over Trisha's shoulder at Valiant who was softly talking to Slade in the corner before lowering her voice. "Could you perhaps tell Valiant that I am medically cleared to walk to the bathroom on my own? He's insisted on carrying me, and while I love him and know he's just worried, I can walk just fine."

Trisha grinned. "I'll make sure to let him know." She patted what she thought was Tammy's knee under all the blankets and stood, turning to collect her mate and give Valiant her medical opinion about colds and walking.

x x x

Late that night, Slade jolted awake beside Trisha. She had rolled slightly away from him, hugging the edge of their bed and he automatically snaked an arm out to draw her back against his chest. He snuggled her in tight and buried his nose in her blonde hair, breathing in deep.

Relaxed now, he wondered what the odd noise was that had woke him. He listened carefully. He could hear Forest's soft breaths from the next room assuring him his son still slept. Nothing outside moved, no animals or creaking branches. The house and it's surroundings seemed settled.

With a contented sigh, Slade curled himself around his Trisha tightly and tried to get back to sleep. He was almost there when he heard a very worrisome sound.

He flashed back to his conversation with Valiant, who had explained how helpless he felt when his Tammy was sick. He had done everything in his power to help her but there was no way to fight something that he couldn't see.

Slade propped himself up on an elbow and leaned over Trisha, waiting with a mix of unease and hope he had misheard.

Everything was silent for a long while.

Then Trisha sniffled.

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet! If you have any thing you'd like to see how the NS deal with I'm always looking for inspiration.