Smells...

Scented kitty litter.

That's the thought that kept playing over and over in her head as she walked down the hallway.

Scented kitty litter.

It was a good idea, in theory. Cat piss and shit smells awful. So companies made scented kitty litter. To cover up the smell.

Brilliant.

Now instead of smelling like cat piss and shit your house could smell like a cloying artificial rose with hints of cat piss and shit. And because their noses are so sensitive and that artificial scent is so strong your cats will hate it and start using your potted plants instead.

Scented kitty litter.

Cold scented kitty litter though.

That was the difference.

She wasn't sure how it was possible for something to smell cold, but it did. She always felt like it smelled cold. It didn't feel cold. Not necessarily. Though sometimes. But her nose would tell her it was cold.

Cold scented kitty litter.

She stopped outside the closed door and tried to relax her face. She could tell she was making a face that said she was thinking about cold scented kitty litter and that wasn't a great face to be making.

Relax.

Look normal.

Pleasant.

Stop thinking about cold scented kitty litter.

She took a deep breath.

Mistake.

The smell flooded her nose. That extremely clean smell that barely covered the smells of bodily functions and worse, bodies that no longer functioned. The disinfectant smell that seeped in to every surface. The constant onslaught smell that she could never get used to, no matter how many times she came here.

Cold scented kitty litter. That's what it was like.

She opened the door to the hospital room and did her best to look pleasant.

The oxygen tube in his nose made his upper lip crinkle in an odd way when he smiled at her.

"Have you ever noticed that this place smells like an old closed up refrigerator?"

"Does it? I hadn't noticed."