I have never been more ready for Fall than I am now. From horrid weather to other things, this Summer has been one I would like to forget. I long for the cool air and crispy leaves. Don’t even get me started on how excited I am for bonfire season. You see, a week ago, I was starting to think that Summer would end nicely. My friends and I are slated to gather for an end of Summer lobster extravaganza. How wrong I was. Summer decided to throw one more punch my way and boy did Summer hit the mark.

On Saturday, I slipped and fell in the shower. I had hopped into the shower in an attempt to escape the heat. In Boston, when you have three days over 90 degrees, they consider it to be a heat wave. They being the meteorologists. So yes, I slipped, but this wasn’t just any slip though. I was merely reaching to the end of the tub to grab a bottle of shampoo when my feet came out from underneath me, as if someone had slid into my legs. I fell face first into a tiled ledge at the end of the tub. With the angled tub, I slid back down into the water, blood running down my face and onto my chest. I touched my nose and white hot pain shot into it. I felt nauseated and dizzy. I had to see what I had done. I stood, carefully, and faced the mirror. Blood was covering my nose, lips, and chin. There was a gash between my nose and upper lip. I felt dizzy again and sat down on the floor. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. My hands shaking, I felt as though I might pass out, so I climbed back into the shower and turned the faucet to cold. The relief was immediate. I stayed there for a few minutes contemplating my options. My roommate was not home. My phone was in the other room. Should I call an ambulance? No, there was no need for one. I just had a gash and a busted nose. I got out of the shower, my head still spinning, and made for my phone.

My friend Will was kind enough to drive me to the hospital (and to bring some hydrogen peroxide to clean my face). A nurse brought me into the emergency room where several nurses and doctors looked at my face. Damage had been done, but not as severely as I thought it had. Blood has a way of making things seem much more serious. They cleaned the gash and attempted to numb the area to put stitches in. Unfortunately, the numbing medication, applied with a needle, oozed out of the gash and dribbled into my mouth, making my tongue go numb, but not the area around the gash. The doctor tried several times to no avail. I am not sure what was more painful: the fall in the shower or having stitches put in without proper numbing. Luckily, only three stitches were needed. Next came an x-ray, which showed that my nose was fractured.

So there you have it. I am pretty lucky that I did not knock out any teeth or break my nose in a way that would require surgery. My nose is (mostly) straight and the gash will heal within a week or two. My lips are pretty swollen, but over time, they too, will return to normal.

Yesterday I went out and bought a rubber shower mat.

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