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He had tried everything. The steam shower had turned the bathroom into a sauna and done nothing. The saline spray had felt like someone throwing a teaspoon of water into the Sahara. The pillow-propping had only given him a neck cramp. And now, his last resort: a spicy chicken soup from the 24-hour diner, delivered lukewarm and congealing on his nightstand.
His mother had told him about this once, years ago. A weird life hack she’d seen on a morning show. He tore off a small strip of medical tape, stretched it across the bridge of his nose, and pressed gently, pulling the skin outward.
He lay on his back, mouth-breathing like a beached whale, staring at the water stain on the ceiling that looked vaguely like a disapproving face. The disapproving face seemed to mock him. You should have bought that humidifier, it seemed to say. You should have changed the air filter. You should not have eaten that entire cheese platter at midnight.
For a moment, nothing changed.
“Fine,” he whispered to the ceiling. “We do this the hard way.”
Then he remembered the tape.
He lifted the bowl, inhaled the steam, and felt a faint, tantalizing twinge in his right nostril. Then nothing.
He had tried everything. The steam shower had turned the bathroom into a sauna and done nothing. The saline spray had felt like someone throwing a teaspoon of water into the Sahara. The pillow-propping had only given him a neck cramp. And now, his last resort: a spicy chicken soup from the 24-hour diner, delivered lukewarm and congealing on his nightstand.
His mother had told him about this once, years ago. A weird life hack she’d seen on a morning show. He tore off a small strip of medical tape, stretched it across the bridge of his nose, and pressed gently, pulling the skin outward.
He lay on his back, mouth-breathing like a beached whale, staring at the water stain on the ceiling that looked vaguely like a disapproving face. The disapproving face seemed to mock him. You should have bought that humidifier, it seemed to say. You should have changed the air filter. You should not have eaten that entire cheese platter at midnight.
For a moment, nothing changed.
“Fine,” he whispered to the ceiling. “We do this the hard way.”
Then he remembered the tape.
He lifted the bowl, inhaled the steam, and felt a faint, tantalizing twinge in his right nostril. Then nothing.
