The bedroom was untouched, so much so that the smell of smoke was still cloying. Cody opened the door, and Em waited beside him while Ryan went inside. "I'm sorry," she told him. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you."
Cody kept his eyes on Ryan, but said, "It doesn't even seem real sometimes. Like, if he just walked back out of the bathroom I wouldn't even be surprised. And then other times, it's a knife through my heart."
Ryan was moving around the room, touching things here and there before finally stopping beside the bed. The burnt linens were still there; the scorched mattress still in place. He bent down, touched it, and froze. Then he straightened, blinked, and swallowed.
"Well?" asked Cody, as Ryan came back out of the room.
"It wasn't--" Ryan swallowed again. "He was more surprised than anything. He wasn't even in pain, or if he was he didn't feel it. I just got this flash: light and heat, surprise starting to turn to worry, and then nothing."
"So he didn't suffer," Cody said slowly.
"No," Ryan told him. "No, I don't believe he did. As far as I can tell, it was over almost before he realized what was happening. He didn't even have time to be scared."
"Get out," said Cody.
Em drew back, startled, and Cody added. "Sorry. Thank you. But we need to be alone with this. Get out."
"Done," she said, and led Ryan back outside.
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