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.

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.

I've seen it done at rugby games in the late '90s, too.

Hm, thinking aloud, since my hero and his sidekick are both soldiers, they probably have some inkling how to treat this thing. So when the sidekick gets there a few hours later (or, maybe, once they're actually out of the building and away from their pursuers), he can do the thumbs-alongside-the-nose thing, which sounds like it could give me my goal of a hero with a visibly crooked but breathable nose.

Sports/Battle Injury story:

When my Uncle Bob was in Jr. High (this would be early 70s) he broke his leg in two places -- femur and tibia.

At the hospital they brought in super bone setter doc who had just gotten back from Viet Nam. SBSD told my Uncle "this is really going to hurt, brace yourself" so my Uncle held his breath and it did hurt like hell when the SBSD grabbed him. Then SBSD said "its all over now" and my Uncle relaxed. THAT is when -- with one mighty yank -- SBSD set both bones.

My Uncle still tells the story with complete awe.

Great column about giftedness that a teacher posted in the main office of one of the schools I work at: [link]

Now that your children are back in school, there's something you should know. I'm afraid your kid isn't a genius. Chances are he or she isn't even gifted. Don't feel bad. By the most generous definition, only about 5 percent of kids can be considered gifted, according to educators. Even fewer rate as actual geniuses;

Bahahahahah... ballsy for a teacher to post it in the office of her school with the gifted/high ability magnet during application season.

Do you find that kids who parents think are "gifted" are actually just kids who are less dumb?

Speaking of short stories, today's Salon has an article up on the new collection of Connie Willis's short stories, which apparently includes both the wheat and the chaff.

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?

Absolutely and totally. There are gradations of nose breaks. When I broke A's nose, she didn't even realise it. She just thought her nose hurt a lot. But I made her go look in the mirror because it didn't look the same as it had before I punched her. J had his nose broken twice--I was only there for one of them, but he was plenty vocal and sarcastic about it. There was a fair amount of bleeding and disfigurement. The second time was much worse--kinda splayed his nose across his face, and I'm not sure he was chatty then.