I was 31, working day shifts and waking nights in a care home in South London, trying to hold myself together through long hours, exhaustion, and the quiet heartbreak that comes with looking after people at the end of their lives. I thought I understood what fear was back then. I thought it was losing residents I'd grown attached to, walking dim corridors alone at three in the morning, or carrying the weight of other people's final days home with me.
But what began happening inside that building was something I couldn't explain away, no matter how hard I tried.
I was 31, working day shifts and waking nights in a care home in South London, trying to hold myself together through long hours, exhaustion, and the quiet heartbreak that comes with looking after people at the end of their lives. I thought I understood what fear was back then. I thought it was losing residents I'd grown attached to, walking dim corridors alone at three in the morning, or carrying the weight of other people's final days home with me.
But what began happening inside that building was something I couldn't explain away, no matter how hard I tried.