The window was greyed out with privacy film, so I could only hear the sirens, and the shouting. I thought of half a dozen things that could have happened: heart attack, knife crime, kidnapping, fire, bomb, bar fight turned street brawl turned police encounter. In my mind, a technicolour riot of chaotic fear. Close. If I could reach through the wall I could touch the participants: patient, doctor, victim, officer, witness, bystander, whoever. To me they could be anything, and to them I did not exist; I was beyond the grey.

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Jay Castello is a freelance writer, editor, and podcast host based in Sheffield, UK. If they’re not down a research rabbit hole, you’ll probably find them taking bad photographs near a riverbank or old tree, but you can also try Bluesky, or their website.