Among the Quiet Ruins

The clinic always felt too quiet in the mornings, as if silence seeped down from the ceiling tiles and settled over everything. Lola Smith could hear the hum of the lights, the slow whir of the automatic doors, even the soft scrape of her own shoes across the polished floor. She didn’t mind the quiet, not really. But on certain days, when her thoughts were too loud, she wished for more noise—anything to drown out the feeling that her life was idling in neutral.

She straightened the stack of patient forms on the reception counter for the third time. Habit, not necessity. A distraction, not organization.

It was 9:26 a.m., just a minute before they usually arrived.

Right on cue, the glass doors swished open.

Lola glanced up and felt her chest tighten, a sensation she had tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore for weeks now. Melvin Walker walked in first, holding the door steady with one arm as he guided his wife’s wheelchair inside. Morning light splashed behind them, giving the moment a soft glow that made the scene look too tender, too cinematic.

Emily Walker’s head was wrapped in a knitted lavender hat, one that didn’t match her pale sweater but somehow still suited her. Her face was thin, but her eyes, light and curious, still carried warmth.

Melvin looked tired. More tired than last week. His collar was wrinkled, and there were faint shadows beneath his eyes. His hair had been combed, but only half-heartedly. He looked like a man stretched too thin, trying to be everything at once and slowly crumbling under the weight.

But when he saw Lola, something softened in his expression.

“Morning,” he said, voice scratchy like he hadn’t slept much.

“Good morning,” she replied, her smile warm but professional. “You’re right on time.”

He huffed a faint laugh. “A miracle.”

Lola stepped around the counter, another unnecessary gesture, another small thing she did because she couldn’t help it. “Let me check you in.”

Emily waved at her, a delicate motion. “Hi, Lola. You look nice today.”

Lola blinked, surprised. “Thank you, Emily. I love your hat.”

Emily brushed a hand over it. “Melvin knitted it.”

Lola’s brows lifted. “You knit?”

He shrugged, embarrassed. “It keeps my hands busy.”

Lola’s heart tugged without her permission.

She tapped them into the system, trying not to linger on the way Melvin’s gaze drifted toward her now and then, as if checking on her was a habit he hadn’t decided to break.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Lola asked Emily gently.

Emily smiled in that peaceful, brutally honest way only the very ill seemed to master. “Like I’ve misplaced two-thirds of my energy. If you find it, please send it back to me.”

Melvin frowned, gently touching her shoulder. “Em…”

“What?” Emily teased. “You want me to lie?”

Lola laughed softly, her throat tightening at the sight of them. They had a sweetness she admired, a closeness that came from surviving storms together. She never forgot Melvin was married. She never forgot he was here because his wife was dying.

But sometimes, when he looked at her for a heartbeat too long, she forgot what she was supposed to feel.

“You’re checked in,” she said. “Maria will get you shortly.”

“Thank you,” Melvin murmured, and somehow his gratitude always felt deeper than the words implied.

They moved to the seating area, Emily leaning slightly toward him, Melvin resting a hand on the wheelchair handle like it was an anchor. Lola watched only long enough to feel guilty about watching.

She sat back at the desk and forced her attention onto small tasks: updating schedules, printing forms, answering calls. Anything that wasn’t staring at a man she had no right to feel anything for.

But she felt it anyway.

A few minutes later, Nurse Maria appeared. “Emily Walker?”

Melvin stood, smoothing Emily’s blanket before guiding her forward.

Lola offered a soft smile. “I hope today goes smoothly.”

Melvin met her gaze, really met it this time, and something flickered between them, brief but unmistakable.

“Thank you, Lola,” he said quietly.

And then they were gone.

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

They returned to the lobby an hour later. Emily looked drained, but her expression was peaceful. Treatments were wearing on her. Each week she looked lighter, as if her body was slowly letting go of the world.

Lola stepped from behind the counter without thinking. “Do you need water? Anything?”

“You’re an angel,” Emily said softly. “But I think I just need home.”

“I’ll get her home,” Melvin whispered, squeezing the handles of the chair. He always spoke gently to his wife, but there was an undertone now, fear, love, and something that sounded like goodbye.

“Let me grab her packet from today,” Lola said, turning back to the desk.

When she handed the envelope to Melvin, their fingers brushed lightly.

Far too lightly.

But enough.

Enough for both of them to feel the uninvited spark.

Melvin pulled back first, swallowing hard. Lola looked down quickly, her pulse thudding in her ears.

“Take care,” she said softly.

Melvin nodded. “You too.”

Emily smiled at them both, eyes flicking between them with a strange awareness, as if she saw more than they thought she did.

And again, the doors slid open, and they left.

That evening, after the clinic closed, Lola sat in her small apartment with her dinner untouched. She tried watching a show, reading a book, scrolling through her phone—anything to derail her thoughts.

But she couldn’t stop thinking of the way Melvin had looked at her. Not like a man cheating or straying or searching. No, it was more complicated.

He looked at her like someone lonely who had finally found a moment of rest.

It wasn’t fair to feel anything. It wasn’t right. But feelings didn’t care about right or fair.

She pressed a palm to her chest.

“Stop it,” she whispered to herself.

But she wasn’t sure she could.

Across town, Melvin helped Emily settle into bed. She smiled up at him, eyes foggy with exhaustion.

“You’re quiet tonight,” she murmured.

“Just tired.”

She studied him for a moment longer than expected. “You can talk to me, you know. About anything.”

His throat tightened. “I know.”

But he didn’t talk. Couldn’t talk.

Because today, when Lola looked at him with those warm eyes, something inside him had cracked.

Emily reached out a frail hand, and he took it gently.

“I’m not blind, Mel,” she whispered.

His breath froze.

But Emily just closed her eyes, drifting toward sleep. “And I don’t blame you.”

He sat there long after she was resting, staring at the faint light under the bedroom door.

Thinking of the receptionist with the quiet smile.

Thinking of the moment he should not have wanted.

Thinking of a future he didn’t deserve to imagine.