Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

“There aren’t.”
“Which means we’ve come a long way.”
“You have.”
“Even if you’re not the ferryman for everyone,” Wallace said, “how does
that work? People die all the time. Hundreds. Thousands. There should be
more here. Why isn’t there a line out the door?”
“Most of the people in the city go to the ferrywoman in the city,” Hugo
said, and Wallace was unnerved by how carefully he seemed to be choosing
his words. “Sometimes, they get sent on to me.”
“Overflow.”
“Something like that,” Hugo said. “To be honest, I don’t always know why
people such as yourself are brought to me. But it’s not my job to question the
why. You’re here, and that’s all that matters.”
Wallace gaped at him. “You don’t question the why? Why the hell not?”
The why of things was Wallace’s specialty. It led to truths that some tried to
keep hidden. He looked at Mei, who grinned at him. No help there. Nelson,
though. Nelson was in the same boat as he was. Maybe he could be of some
use. “Nelson, you’re—”
“Oh no,” Nelson said, glancing at his bare wrist. “Would you look at the
time. I do believe I’m supposed to be sitting in my chair in front of the fire.”
He shuffled away toward the fireplace, leaning on his cane. Apollo trailed
after him, though he glanced back at Hugo as if to make sure he was staying
right where he was.
That certainly didn’t make Wallace feel better. “Somebody had better give
me some answers before I…” He didn’t know how to finish that.
Hugo reached up and scratched the back of his neck. “Look, Wallace—
may I call you Wallace?” Then, without waiting for an answer, “Wallace,
death is … complicated. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going through
your head right now. It’s different for everyone. No two people are the same,
in life or in death. You want to rant and rave and threaten. I get that. You want
to bargain, make a deal. I get that too. And if it makes you feel better, you can
say whatever you want here. No one will judge you.”
“At least not out loud,” Nelson said from his chair.
“You had a heart attack,” Hugo said quietly. “It was sudden. There was
nothing you could have done to stop it. It wasn’t your fault.”