“Cradling His Brother as Flames Consumed Everything Else.”

There were no visible burns.
No charred skin.
The fire had not touched them the way people expect.

But smoke had.
Smoke steals oxygen quietly.
Smoke fills lungs before pain arrives.

Doctors later declared both boys brain dead.
The cause was smoke inhalation.
The outcome was final.

For their family, the words felt unreal.

Brain dead.
No recovery.

Grief arrived like a collapse.
Sudden.
Crushing.