"It was all I could do," Cole repeats. His voice slips into more of a monotone as he continues talking: for all of Cole's emotional attachments and emotional tone of voice in earlier conversations, this part of his words are oddly disjointed, as if Cole's reciting something from memory, not something he personally experienced.

"I made myself forget the pain. But I remember enough to remember why I look like him. I'd be confused otherwise. He was dying. This was all I could do."