Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

Mei gasped. “They do? Oh my god, this changes everything. I can’t
believe I never—oh, now that’s a look on your face for sure.”
Wallace grimaced. “Whoever told you that you were funny obviously lied
and you should feel bad about it.”
“I don’t,” Mei assured him. “Like, at all.”
“Like, totally.”
“Sounds like we spoke to the same person.”
“Hey!”
“There aren’t other ghosts here because we haven’t received a new
assignment yet. Some days, it’s back-to-back and things overlap. And then
there are other days when we don’t get anyone at all.” She glanced at him
before going back to the dishwasher. “We don’t usually have long-term
tenants. And no, Nelson and Apollo don’t count. I think the most we ever had
at one time was … three, not including them. It got a little crowded.”
“Of course they don’t count,” Wallace muttered. “What’s the longest
someone has been here?”
“Why? Thinking about setting down roots?”
He crossed his arms defensively. “No. I’m just asking.”
“Ah. Right. Well, I know Hugo had someone who stayed for two weeks.
That was … a hard case. Deaths by suicide usually are.”
Wallace swallowed thickly. “I can’t imagine having to deal with that.”
“I don’t deal with it,” Mei said sharply. “And neither does Hugo. We do
what we do because we want to help people. We aren’t here because we
have to be. We’re here because we choose to be. Remember that distinction,
yeah?”
“Okay, okay. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He’d struck a nerve he didn’t
even know to aim for. He needed to be careful.
She relaxed. “I won’t pretend to say I understand what you’re going
through. How can I? And even if I thought I knew what it’s like, I’d probably
still be wrong. It’s different for everyone, man. What the people went through
before you and those who will come after you, it’s never going to be the same
thing twice. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You’re new,” Wallace reminded her.
“I am. I was training for only two years before I was given your case.
That’s quicker than any other Reaper in history.”