Cold Sweetness

❆ chapter three

Droplets of blood traced their path through the snow to the lodge. His hands were coated in the sticky substance, but Sam refused to remove them to allow her to get a better look until she had access to tissues. When they pushed open the front doors to the lobby, a gust of warm air slammed into them.

The fire was blazing, crackling as an employee fiddled with the wood inside to keep it burning. A family of four curled around the couches as they played a quick game of cards, their short bursts of laughter cutting through every few seconds. The receptionist glanced up at the sound of their entrance, though her smile fell at the sight of Sam.

"Oh God," she said, a crinkle forming between her eyebrows. "What happened?"

"An accident," Sam answered, his voice curt. By now, there was no missing the color his nose had taken on. "Do you have tissues?"

"And ice," Nevada added.

"Yeah, just give me a few seconds," the receptionist said. She disappeared into the back room before reappearing with an ice pack and a box of Kleenex. "Is there anything else I can do? Can I call in a medic? Maybe take you to first-aid?"

"It should be fine," Nevada assured her.

She motioned Sam towards the nearest bathroom, and she pulled the door shut behind them once they were both inside. The room was small, forcing them to squeeze into the tight space. There was hardly any room to turn around, and with Sam's long legs, they couldn't avoid bumping into each other.

"Sit," she instructed. Her voice had become soft, her body working on autopilot as her mind worked her through the information she had learned regarding a bruised nose.

Sam plopped down on the toilet seat. He snatched the box of tissues from her hand and tore the packaging in his rush to stifle the bleeding. His gaze remained glued to hers as he waited for her next instructions.

"I think we should stop the bleeding first," she said. "Sit straight. Tilt your head slightly forward. Then you have to pinch the soft part of your nose with your thumb and forefinger."

"I always thought you were supposed to lean back when your nose starts to bleed," Sam said, though he listened, leaning forward while his free hand pinched his nose.

"No. You could swallow the blood that way, and you might end up vomiting." Nevada used the spare hand towel on the rack to wrap the ice pack before resting it against the cheek that was closest to her. He shied away from her hand until she leveled him with a look.

"What's the point of this then?" He let out a long sigh, but he didn't hide away from the ice pack anymore.

"The cold restricts the blood vessels, I think. It'll help stop the bleeding." After thirty seconds ticked by, the two falling into comfortable silence, Nevada shifted the ice pack onto his nose. A hiss escaped through his teeth, though he said nothing as she focused her attention on the injury. "You should keep the ice on for ten minutes at least. I believe you have to do it three times a day."

"Okay."

Sam took the ice pack from her to apply it himself, and Nevada took the opportunity to step back as much as she could without her back hitting the wall. She fished her phone out of the pocket of her sweatpants and searched how to treat a bruised nose. The website she found stated that ice was the main solution, but all there was left to do was wait.

"It says you should sleep with your head elevated too," Nevada read aloud as her eyes skimmed over the line. "But other than that – there's nothing left to do."

"Great." There was no missing the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

But she chose to ignore it in favor of inspecting his nose again. She moved his hand away, her fingers gently prodding the swollen nose. The bleeding seemed to have stopped for the time being, but it remained a dark color, looking slightly crooked to the naked eye.