Susan, Hec's dad has broken his nose a few times and described it pretty vividly. I'll ping him (he's got no b.org access at work, but does get mail).

eta: And of course there was Emmett! He said it didn't really hurt after the first minute or so, but there was a spectacular amount of blood.

But the people I need to kill aren't in Plano, Daisy.

They are. You just don't know it yet.

Besides, if you destroy Dallas, you'll destroy the cutest boys ever [link]

Don't destroy the fist of country!

Are you sending the universe positive thoughts?

I am one gigantor ray of negativity today. I am, in fact, planning to destroy Dallas.

oooooooooooooooo! Can I help? It might help me get rid of some of my stored hostility from grading term papers.

We can always destroy the school I teach at. It might be being demolished anyway. We would be doing a public service.

I'm annoyed I missed Torchwood last night. Stupid term papers.

Can I help?

Standing right exactly here!

If we destroy my school we won't harm any of the cute cowboys...

Can I help?

Standing right exactly here!

Then you might want to move a little to your left.

About 600 miles should do it.

Standing right exactly here!

how's that transporter coming along?

Susan, Hec reports:

Emmett said that after the initial shock you don't feel that much. Which I've also heard is common in nose breaks.

The nose swelled almost immediately more than doubling in width. It looked swollen all the way to the middle of his eyes on both sides. It was more difficult to breathe with the obstructed air passage.

Emmett was stunned though not quite in shock all the way to the hospital. He was calm.

It stays swollen for about two or three days. When that recedes then you get the black eyes under both eyes.

It doesn't take that long to set. About two weeks.

When my dad broke his nose, he had the guy re-set it right on the field immediately. The guy took both thumbs along the sides of the nose and pressed hard so that the broken bone aligned with the air passages.

That hurts like hell but it was common practice for sports injuries in the early 20th century and I would imagine it was common in battle as well.

Thanks, JZ! Here's what I'm specifically looking for WRT my story:

1. How much does it hurt at first? Is it even remotely possible, allowing a certain amount of license for the hero of an action story, that my character can get off a Cutting Remark directed at the man who ordered him roughed up before he's overwhelmed by the pain and the extreme nosebleed?

2. A few hours later, my character is rescued by his Trusty Sidekick (who, incidentally, is kicking up all kinds of fuss from where he lives in my imagination at being so described). Is the nose thing going to hamper my hero's ability to aid in his own escape? Like, is he going to be short of breath, will the nosebleed start up again, is the swelling bad enough to impinge on his vision at all, etc.?

3. The websites I'm reading about modern broken nose treatment all mention that a possible complication is a deviated septum and/or permanent difficulty breathing. My guy isn't going to be in a position to have anyone straighten his nose out for him, what with being on the run and all, and I'm not sure whether a doctor would've even bothered trying to straighten in 200 years ago. (This is one of those times where I wish I could bodily pull Stephen Maturin out of my Patrick O'Brian books and ask him what he'd do, because it's not the easiest detail to track down via ordinary research.) And I *want* his nose to heal a bit crooked, in a "make him look more dangerous without ruining his handsome looks" way, but not if that means he has to stop and wheeze for breath halfway through every battle scene. So, this may beyond the scope of anyone's modern broken-nose experience, but can my guy be crooked-nosed but still able to breathe as well as before once he's healed?

ETA my questions got xposted with Hec's answer...

Besides, if you destroy Dallas, you'll destroy the cutest boys ever

Oh, all right, some of my favorite bands are from Dallas and Rhett Miller is too pretty to die.

This does not change the fact that I'm a live ragebomb with a hair-trigger.