[Jaykobell]

"Absolutely not."

Cybele felt like a child sitting in the principal's office back in middle school. She sat in the chair across from Murray, and she felt like crawling back to Martin's office after hearing the head doctor's answer to her suggestion.

She swallowed hard, getting nervous, but she tried to stand her ground. "Doctor Wolfgang," she started again, and she tried to keep eye contact with him, "I can assure you Neil regrets what happened. If you would just—"

"I thought I already told you, Cybele," Murray spoke, and he narrowed his eyes at the young nurse, his hands sitting by each other's fingertips, with his elbows prompted on the armrests of his chair. "My decision was and is final. Neil's not getting his license back until the five years have passed, and he's certainly not coming back to work in my hospital with my patients."

She had to hand it to Murray for being relatively calm during this conversation, considering how aggravated and hurt he had been over Neil's mistake. Still, Cybele was convinced she would eventually manage to crack him. "But won't you consider giving him a second chance, doctor?"

[Jaykobell]

Asking Murray a second time for his benevolence had earned Cybele anything but that as the head doctor slowly prompted his elbows on his desk, his eyes looking sharply back to hers. "Cybele, don't make me repeat myself," Murray warned, and his voice was getting aggravated, and his eyes were narrowing by the second. "Neil is not coming back here."

Cybele swallowed nervously, noticing her employer getting a bit more direct and blunt with her, and as much as she wanted to keep on trying, it didn't sound like the best idea. If she got on Murray's bad side, then the prospect of getting Neil's license back would be out the window faster than Cybele would actually be able to say "license".

"Anything else, miss Rosemonde?" Murray inquired, cocking an eyebrow up at her questioningly.

Despite Murray inviting her to say more, Cybele knew what those words actually meant. "Ah, I... I guess not, sir."

"Was I clear enough?" he asked, just to be sure that they were truly on the same page; because if she came back, he wouldn't be nearly this calm about it.

Cybele couldn't completely hide her disappointment, but she had no choice. "Yes, sir," she replied quietly, glancing up at him hesitantly.

"Good," he said, straightening up from his desk and letting himself lean against his chair. "Go back to work, then," he instructed, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

[Jaykobell]

Cybele had no choice but to leave the office as instructed, resigning herself that getting back Neil's license before the allocated five years wouldn't be as easy as she'd initially assumed. She could appreciate Murray's no-nonsense attitude and his ability to discipline his staff, but at the same time, she wished he could be just a little bit more lenient.

At the very least, she had something to look forward to during her day. She worked as instructed in the morning, doing her rounds and doing the paperwork for Martin, working effectively and diligently.

The morning went by fast, and when it came time for lunch, Cybele settled down by her desk, picked up the phone, and she dialled Neil's home number.

For a few weeks, the two exchanged some idle conversation over the phone. They talked about anything and everything; how Neil was doing, what Cybele was up to at the hospital, how some of the other doctors and staff were doing. Of course, Neil hadn't been so eager to talk at first, but the more Cybele called, the more Neil eventually opened up. Every day, at the same time, Cybele would give Neil a call; and on certain days when work had been quiet, she would tentatively ask if Neil was in the mood for some company. More than once did she find herself visiting him at home, typically over a small treat together with tea or coffee.

[Jaykobell]

Over time, even Martin picked up on the fact Cybele used her allocated time for lunch to call Neil, and while she got embarrassed when he teased, the hematologist always let her do her own thing. If anything, Cybele appreciated his respect for her privacy; Martin would eat in his consultation room instead of in the office just so Cybele could comfortably speak with Neil without anyone listening in.

It was a usual day when she called him, just settling in from a busy morning. The phone rang a few times before the other end up picked up. "Hey, Cybele," Neil greeted on the other end, knowing from the number and the time alone that she was the one calling.

"Hi, Neil," she replied happily, smiling as she kept the phone close to her ear. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he replied, and over the last few weeks, Cybele could bring herself to believe that answer, unlike before. "You? Busy?"

"Always," she replied, chuckling a bit. "It doesn't really change much around here. Same old," she added, leaning in her chair and looking around the office. Same files, same patients, same routine. As she looked and noticed the hematology tags, though, she let out a small sigh. "It still doesn't feel the same, though."

[Jaykobell]

The two of them were quiet for a moment, up until Neil broke the silence. "It'll be like that for a long time," he reminded her, considering she wasn't anywhere near done feeling out of place if he wasn't getting back his license until the next years were up.

"Not if I can help it," she retorted, the thought of convincing Murray for a second chance still stirring in her mind.

"Cybele," Neil said almost right away, interrupting whatever train of thought she'd had, "don't get into that again. Don't get on Murray's bad side just for that." The last thing he wanted was for work to become even more of a living hell for her; if Murray got on her case, getting his trust back would be even harder than getting Neil's license back.

"It's not 'just' for that," Cybele pointed out, and she couldn't help but to make a baffled expression, even if Neil couldn't see it from his end. "Your license is important, and I was serious when I said I would get it back."

Neil sighed on the other end, but she couldn't tell if he was upset, aggravated, or tired; or a mix of all three, and maybe more. "You're wasting your time. Murray won't change his mind," he pointed out, and he'd known the older doctor for long enough to know that. "I know him."

"Exactly. Can't you tell me what I could tell him to convince him to give you a second chance?" Cybele asked, turning the comment against Neil, and she heard him sigh again; and this time she could tell he was getting aggravated.

[Jaykobell]

"Cybele, he's going to get upset with you," Neil warned her, and although he sounded upset, part of her wondered if he was also sounding just a little bit worried. "Don't try to aggravate him. My name is probably enough to upset him right now," he added, and he scoffed at the thought.

"He was really calm about it when I went to speak to him a while ago, actually," Cybele replied, Murray's calm behavior having left an impression on her from that time. He hadn't been willing to budge, but at least the conversation had been civil and manageable.

"Then you were lucky that time," Neil retorted, and he paused for a moment before he added, "I'm serious, Cybele. Don't upset him." There was another pause, and the only thing that kept Cybele quiet was the fact she could hear small noises that told her Neil was trying to say something more. "I'm not worth it," he finally added, and had she known that was what he was going to say, she wouldn't have let him finish.

"Stop saying that," she told him, and although her voice was even, internally, she got hurt and upset every time Neil put himself down like that. "You're worth it to me. Isn't that enough?" She knew that it wasn't, and she couldn't really blame him; deep down, he needed to feel like he was worth it, and he wouldn't feel that way by hearing one person tell him so. "I hate when you say that."

[Jaykobell]

After Cybele had called out Neil's self-degrading, the two went quiet for a moment. Cybele took a look at the clock, and her lunch had only just started. "Really, Neil, don't worry about it. I'll be fine," she assured him, and she knew that she had reason to feel confident. "I won't be pushing it, but I'll do what I can to help from here," she told him, hoping that would ease whatever worries he had. Truth be told, she didn't want to get on Murray's bad side, either.

Neil eventually sighed, resigning himself. "You're damn stubborn," he groaned, but really, Cybele took it more as a compliment than anything else.

"You liked that when I worked for you, though, didn't you?" Cybele pointed out, and she couldn't help herself but to grin widely on her end of the conversation as she waited for Neil's answer. She was teasing him, mostly, but she knew that she was right.

"Yeah," Neil replied, and she heard him humph, "except you weren't this cocky when you worked with me," he pointed out, and his mood wasn't really there, but Cybele could tell he was just playing along.

"All the more reason for you to come back," she told him, and the more their relationship rebuilt itself, the more her desire to bring him back grew. She would give Murray a little bit more time; and then she would try asking him again. Eventually, given due time, the head doctor would be convinced: he had to be.

[Jaykobell]

Over the next few days, Cybele got her gears turning to find a way to talk to Murray a second time over Neil's license. There had to be something she could use as an argument to, if anything, make the head doctor hesitate and consider rehiring Neil. Of course, finding the said argument would be easier said than done.

She eventually asked for a short meeting with Murray, to which the head doctor hesitantly agreed. He was a busy one, so he had done her a favor and squeezed her in-between two patients, since she'd been adamant about meeting him, saying that it was important.

It was a little more nerve-wracking this time around, considering she would have to be quick and direct; they couldn't afford to make patients wait for their own problems. In fact, Cybele barely had enough time to sit down and get comfortable before Murray got right to the point. "I don't have much time, so get on with it," he instructed, and Cybele could tell he wasn't as calm as he'd been the other day. "What is it?"

In order to save time, Cybele gave up on a seat, instead standing up as they talked. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about my..." she started, and she hesitated for a moment under the pressure, "... my motivation to work," she finally worded out, and Murray's frown didn't help her anxiety.

[Jaykobell]

Murray's face wasn't so much anger as it was curiosity; and perhaps, just a little bit of surprise at hearing Cybele say she felt unmotivated to work. "Go on," he urged, and his voice had calmed down a bit; at the very least, this sounded like an issue that would need to be discussed and that wouldn't be a waste of his time.

"Ah, well, I feel like I'm not as efficient as I used to be," Cybele went on, and now that she was in the office, her thoughts weren't coming to her as easily as they had been prior. "I'm not very satisfied with my productivity." In a sense, she wasn't lying; until recently, when her energy and mood had picked up again, she hadn't been working at her best, nor had she truly felt like working at all. In those situations, the patients were the victims, and that wasn't fair to them.

"That's not what Martin's been telling me," Murray pointed out, and of course, he would know; experienced or not, the hematologist still had to provide a report of his day and what he'd done; and Cybele's evaluations were always fair, with Martin being very satisfied with her productivity. "So who's wrong, here?"

"No, I've been working, of course," Cybele continued, and she was starting to run out of explanations to turn this conversation around to what she wanted. "I just feel like I haven't been working at my best. I know I can do better."

[Jaykobell]

Murray stared back at Cybele the whole time the nurse explained her problem, his arms resting limply on the armrests of his chair. "What do you suggest, then?" he asked, willing to give her a chance to ask what she wanted, if she truly felt like her productivity had been declining. "What would you help you work more comfortably?" Of course, he wouldn't just give her whatever she wanted; but if his staff had any concerns, then he was willing to talk to try to figure them out. If anything, he had to give it to Cybele for coming to speak to him honestly about it.

Cybele's heart starting beating faster as it reached that point of the conversation, and she tried to approach it casually. "Well, I was thinking about what made it so much more motivating for me to work here..." she started, and she started fidgeting with her fingers, as she felt the pressure from Murray's gaze. "And I came to the realization that... Well, I truly worked my best when I worked for Neil," she added, giving Murray a very, very faint, sheepish smile; because she assumed he might not appreciate the subject matter.

As tiny as it had been, Cybele's smile quickly disappeared when Murray's expression dangerously soured. "Again with this nonsense?" he snapped, and he straightened up in his chair, which made Cybele step back. "Did you come here to waste my time again? I have patients to take care of!"

Cybele swallowed when Murray started getting agitated, and only then did she figure that maybe she should've listened to Neil.

[Jaykobell]

"I'm going to make it very clear, Cybele." At that point, Cybele knew she'd made a mistake when Murray got up from his chair and hovered over his desk, eyes glaring right back at her.

"Whether you like it or not, as you will work, staff will come and go," Murray started, and he spoke with a harsh, direct voice that made Cybele stay quiet throughout his whole speech. "Whether you're working here or elsewhere, your coworkers will change constantly: whether you like it or not." Cybele swallowed as Murray spoke, and she tried not to crumble under his authority.

"So listen to me very carefully, Cybele, because I don't like repeating myself," Murray warned, and he pointed a finger at her as he spoke. "Whether you like it or not, Neil is gone, and he will remain gone. He put my patients in danger, he put my hospital in danger, and he put me in danger. He is lucky that I took pity on him enough not to have his license revoked entirely."

"Now get over yourself," he ordered, and Cybele didn't know how to feel about his harsh response. "Are you really that bored back there with Martin? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" If her problem was motivation, then he had something for that. "Then I'll keep you busy. You're being transferred to a different department starting tomorrow morning."

[Jaykobell]

Cybele was taken aback by Murray's sudden instructions at the end of his speech, giving her brain little time to take in everything in order. "W-wait, excuse me?" she asked, staring with her mouth opened a little.

"Seems like Martin hasn't got enough work for you to keep your mind on task," Murray replied, and at that point, he sat back down in his chair. "I have a doctor for that. You're being transferred starting tomorrow. Be here at the crack of dawn," he instructed, and then he picked up his papers and got up again to escort her out. "Now get back to work; I have patients to see."

"B-but what about doctor Donato?" Cybele asked, partly wondering what she was going to tell the hematologist now that she was supposedly getting transferred within hours.

Murray groaned and rolled his eyes. "Martin can take care of himself without a personal nurse," he stated flatly, and he walked closer to urge Cybele to get a move on. "Now get back there and pack whatever you have so you're ready to change departments," he instructed, going over to the door to see her out. "Am I clear?"

Only then did Cybele realize what kind of mistake she'd made, but there was no time to go back in the past to fix it; or to prevent herself from doing it. As Murray opened the door and urged her out, Cybele had no choice but to listen. "Y-yes, sir."

[Jaykobell]

"Transferred starting tomorrow? So fast?"

Of course, it had gone without saying that Cybele had to tell Martin about her being transferred starting the next day. She felt awful telling him so, but leaving her desk with no warning would be even worse for him. Even for her; all things considered, she didn't dislike working for Martin at all.

"I'm so sorry, doctor," she apologized, looking down at the ground, and feeling ashamed. "That's not at all what I wanted to happen." She didn't admit that Neil had warned her to keep quiet; Neil himself would already give her enough grief over it, most likely.

"It's okay, lassie," Martin assured her, shaking his head and waving a hand. "What Murray says, goes," he pointed out with a small chuckle. "I'm sad to see you go from my department, though. I thought you worked beautifully," he added, and he tilted his head at her, feeling a little sadness at the thought of losing her to another department.

Hearing Martin say those words only made it harder to accept her being transferred. She still smiled, though, being that it was the polite thing to do. "Thank you, doctor," she thanked, looking up at him with a small, genuine smile that did tell him that she was grateful for what he'd done for her while she worked for him.

[Jaykobell]

"Did Murray tell you who you're gonna be working for?" Martin asked curiously, wondering who was going to be the lucky winner starting tomorrow.

Unfortunately for both of them, Cybele shook her head. "No, he didn't," she replied, and her expression looked a little worried. "He didn't tell me where he was transferring me, either." She couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing; but perhaps Martin knew more than she did.

"Hmm," he mused, glancing down at his Newton's cradle. "Wonder what he's got in mind, then. The hospital's pretty big; can't even begin guessing," he admitted, shrugging a little. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure you'll be okay; we've got some good folks around here."

Cybele sighed, trying to keep those positive thoughts going in her head, although they weren't speaking out very loudly. "We do; I just hope I didn't get myself into trouble, somehow." Neil had warned her Murray wouldn't go easy on her, and lo and behold, the head doctor hadn't chewed any of his words with her.

Martin chuckled and he shook his head. "Nah, don't worry. Really, I'm sure you'll be okay, wherever you end up." He couldn't begin guessing who was going to work with her, but he could only hope Murray knew what he was doing, to be transferring Cybele so quickly. If he had just a sliver of Cybele's courage, Martin himself might've just gone to Murray to argue that he wanted to keep her for himself.

[Jaykobell]

As their conversation slowly started to die down, Cybele got up from her chair, and she extended a hand to Martin. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, doctor," she told him, and Martin looked confused at hearing her words. "I appreciate how patient and understanding you've been to me," she clarified to make it easier on him, and that gratefulness extended to his giving her Neil's coordinates. If he hadn't gone out of his way to give them to her, she probably wouldn't have had a chance to speak or to see Neil again.

Martin laughed sheepishly, and he rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "You're a really cute one, Cybele," he complimented, gladly taking her hand and giving her a good shake. "Sad to lose you to another doctor," he laughed, letting her hand go as Cybele was about to make her way out of his consultation room.

At that moment, Martin stopped Cybele in her tracks. "Hey, lassie, hold on."

Cybele had been ready to go back to start packing whatever small things she had, but she stopped and turned back around when Martin called out to her. "Yes?" she asked, and she tilted her head when she noticed the hematologist shuffling in one of his desk drawers for something.

"Not sure if it's your style," he started saying as he scavenged, pulling old, crumpled papers out of the drawer, and some other things awkwardly sticking out as he pushed things around. "Hold on."