Thank you so much for your support and I have to apologize for the spam two days ago. Now this is a real chapter. 3

Melendez's phone started buzzing in the morning, but none of them woke up for the first time. The caller didn't give up, he called again and again until Melendez finally rolled to his side to reach for his phone without opening up his eye. He wasn't aware of being on call and he had no idea who was this early bird caller.

"Melendez..." he mumbled and yawned afterwards.

"It's Andrews here. Sorry for interrupting your peaceful sleep but I'm here in my office. Dr Han and his broken nose just left. I would like to talk about this with you in person." Melendez heard but he could barely understand what it's all about; he has been still asleep. "We should also discuss your resignation." Andrews added.

"Wait, back to the beginning. You fired Han, didn't you?" Melendez opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows. It still wasn't clear for him.

"I did. Come in to my office as soon as possible!" Melendez could tell from Andrews' voice that he wasn't in a good mood so he didn't want to boost that even more. "Yes sir." he sighed. "See you there." he said on his sleepy, rusty voice and hung up. Lim slowly turned to him and stroked his back. Melendez looked at her and shook his head. "Sorry for waking you up. It was Andrews, he wants me in."

"Now?" she whispered. "I don't want you to go yet."

"You are free today, aren't you? I'll be back soon. I'm only on call tonight, so we can spend the rest of the day together." he leaned to her and gave her a kiss on her lips.

"All right. Hurry home..." she smiled briefly.

"You should go back to sleep until you can." Melendez got up from bed, he was still fully naked but didn't care about it, he went right to the bathroom like this.

"Nah, I'm good." Lim smiled and watched him leave the bedroom. "I like the view though..." she chuckled, she could also hear Melendez laughing in the bathroom. As soon as he got ready to leave they said their goodbyes and he was on his way to the hospital. Although he kind of figured out what was going on by then, he was still a bit concerned about what Andrews might have to say about it. As he arrived to the hospital he headed directly to Andrews' office, knocked in and opened the door as he heard the call.

"Dr Melendez. Come in!" Andrews nodded.

"Good morning, sir. You wanted to see me?" Melendez raised his eyebrows as he walked in and sat down across Andrews.

"Indeed. I wanted to talk to you about two things that I believe are left to discuss after all these...events around Dr Han." as Andrews started his monolog Melendez already started to feel uncomfortable. "You know after I fired Han I thought 'Great, so I can offer back Dr Melendez's job to him, he doesn't need to quit.' This was actually the main reason behind firing Han. But only few hours later the news came in from the ER that somebody broke Han's nose!" he took a deep breath; Melendez thought he is going to yell soon. "I discussed it with Ms Aoki. She won't let me employ a doctor who can't hold back his anger and who beats another doctor because of their jarring!" he took a short break before continuing. "Your resignation is accepted. This is your last month here, in St Bonaventure as an attending surgeon." the announcement hit Melendez in the chest. He was perfectly aware of that as he gave his resignation letter to Andrews he basically quit his job but he believed that Andrews will understand that he only did it to save Lim and Murphy from being fired and since Han is removed from his position Melendez can get his job back. Melendez just stared at Andrews as he processed the thought of being unemployed after working at this hospital since his residency.

"I only hit him once, I didn't beat him up, okay?" he objected eventually.

"And he indeed deserved it but this is not the reason why I'm mad, Dr Melendez! I fought for you and Lim with him, I fired Han so you both can keep your jobs but you couldn't behave and now I can't fight for you again! I'm against violence especially amongst my employees. I would immediately fire anyone who shows any sign of violence and you are no exception!" Andrews shook his head. His disappointment in Melendez was obvious and despite his anger towards him, he remained calm more or less.

"Sir, you have never had any complaint about me, this is the first time. I'm your best Cardiothoracic Surgeon!" Melendez tried to bring up some argument against Andrews' decision but it all seemed ineffective.

"Yes, it'll cause some damage to the hospital but nearly not as much as a headline would in the news tomorrow that says 'St Bonaventure's doctors are violent and they can't behave'." Andrews quoted. Melendez had to admit; he lost this battle. Unfortunately, he had to agree with Andrews, his act was probably more than unprofessional.

"Alright. I apologize and I understand your decision. I screwed up, you are right." Melendez shrugged his shoulder and rose from the chair. "You said this month?" he sighed as he turned to the direction of the door. "That's two more weeks then. I should enjoy my time left here..."

"I'll write a recommendation letter to wherever you apply for a job." Andrews offered. Melendez slowly turned back to him, hand on his hips and nodded.

"I appreciate it, sir." he replied and didn't hesitate any longer, he couldn't do anything else anyways so he left Andrews' office. It wasn't time for saying goodbyes to the hospital yet, he still had two weeks before he had to leave this place behind, but as he walked out of the building he already felt that this is the end of an era. He drove home still in total shock. Memories and emotions filled up his mind and heart. He had never been a sentimental type but this news almost made him cry. St Bonaventure was his whole life and he had to leave it behind. If he could only find job in another city, there was a chance that it meant leaving Lim behind too as part of his old life.

As he arrived back to Lim's condo he walked in to the house and found her sitting at the kitchen table sipping her morning coffee. She looked up at him and noticed that something was wrong.

"Oh my…Neil, what happened?" Lim stood up and walked to him. She was wearing that huge t-shirt again that Melendez gave her several years ago. He just looked at her and her t-shirt that brought up so much memories from their residency.

"I have to look for another job." he confessed. He could see Lim's worried face but she didn't say anything. He was perfectly aware of the reason and she knew that what Melendez needed was only support and love.

"We will figure this out…" she whispered as she stepped to him and closed him into a warm embrace.