Sophomore Stories Part II "The Broken Nose"

Basketball is a passion for many at The University Of Kansas and the are pick-up games are attended more regularly than classes. Behind our beloved Ellsworth Hall Dorm, there were two concrete courts encircled by a 15 foot chain link fence. One particular spring day the weather was so perfect it prevented me from going to my Economics lab, so I joined my roommate, James, and several other friends out back for some roundball. I'm a below-average basketball player, but I somehow got into a game and was enjoying myself much more than I would be learning about supply and demand curves.
While playing defense on the perimeter a teammate stole the ball and dribbled it to our basket. I sprinted right behind then around to the opposite side of the free-throw lane in case he needed to pass or rebound a miss. I ended up a couple of feet from the basket when my teammate attempted a layup. Then, out of nowhere, an opposing player jumped and emphatically blocked the layup with great force and the ball hit me square in the nose!
I stumbled back away from the basket and eventually caught myself on the chain link fence. Blood was streaming from my nose and was quickly forming a growing puddle on the grey concrete. Play was stopped and several guys gathered around to see if I was ok.
The pain was sharp and distinctly inside my nose. The weather had been dry and I'd experienced a few bloody noses lately so I wasn't too worried about the blood except that it was really flowing and wouldn't stop. After a minute, I told the guys I would be ok and stumbled away to stop the bleeding.
With a giant puddle of blood on the court and with Magic Johnson recently revealing his HIV condition, someone wondered aloud if they needed to be worried about AIDS. As I made my way up the hill back to the dorm, my wonderful roommate and friend, James, calmed everyone's fears by loudly proclaiming "Don't worry...John's a virgin!"
True words at the time (until I was married, in fact) but still, not necessarily something you want shouted from the rooftops. But this information seemed to have eased any fears because by the time I was up the hill, the game had resumed.
I made my way to the first bathroom I could find, just past the front desk of my dorm. From there I tried unsuccessfully to stop the bleeding, but it was constant and I started to panic. I rushed up to my room, holding my white shirt to my nose to absorb the blood, and grabbed my car keys. I then ran out to the parking lot to find my car and providentially ran into my favorite Paraguayan friend, Gabriella, who, seeing my need for emergency assistance, drove me to Watkins Health Facility where the staffers at the front door, upon seeing the blood everywhere, rushed me into a room where at nurse stuffed cotton in my nostrils.
Later, I took the x-rays back to my room and showed everyone the evidence of my detatched cartilage. It was the first confirmed broken bone in my life.