Chapter 47: Departure

They spent some days in Raleigh, enjoying the city which will be soon be theirs. They visited natural sciences museum. Claire was passionate about stones and begged Neil to go there. He agreed only if she came with him at the Museum of Art. He introduced her to the world of painting. She felt in love with Renoir's works. It was kind of appeasing looking at these paintings. All these landscapes let her dreamy. She hoped that one day she could visit all these places.

The day after, they lost in the JC Raulson Arboretum and in Pullen Park. The more time they spent here the more they felt at home. They had finally found the place they wanted to live. It was not their choice and, yet it was as if it was meant to be. And they will soon be here permanently.

"Last day here…"

"Before we come here forever…"

They shared a kiss under an oak tree. A symbolic kiss when you know the surname of the city was the the Oak City. They came back at the hotel and prepared their luggage before going out one last time and eat in one of the numerous restaurants the city was counting. The night spent quickly, way too quickly to their own taste.

"Thank you for this amazing night, Neil."

"Nothing is enough for you. And you do know we needed to celebrate our last night in Raleigh as tourists."

She cuddled against him and rested her head against his shoulder. The best way for her to fall asleep. The best way for him to feel secure. He dropped a kiss upon her hair he liked so much. Especially when she let it act naturally. On morning, they took a taxi which drove them to the airport. In seven hours, they will be in San José for the last months of their life. The flight was calm. They arrived at their apartment in the early evening. It was weird to be back here. It was as if they had let their hearts in Raleigh.

"We could order some pizzas tonight? I'm not in the mood for cooking…"

"Me too…"

He let out a laugh. "As if you were ever in a mood for cooking…"

"Ok not wrong… I suck at cooking, but I'm better than at the beginning. You can at least recognize this."

"I wanna, I wanna."

He loved to tease her on her cooking skills. He remembered the day she burnt the lasagna she cooked for a whole afternoon or when she badly dosed out the sugar in a cake and it was impossible to eat. Funny memories. Ones of his favorite. The delivery guy finally came. They were so hungry. They sat in the coach and eat with their fingers. No need for plates or cutlery. It was way more fun like this. He will have never do this before. Always using a fork and a knife as his parents had taught him. With Claire he had learned to be less serious, less repressed as Claire used to say to him.

Claire stood up. "Gonna take a shower… If you're interested…" She winked at him before vanishing in the bathroom. He didn't lose a minute and followed her. He joined her in the shower. She was already in there, naked, nasty, excited. She kissed him deeply, passionately. She needed this, she was hungry with him. He answered by kissing wildly. And then he let his hands run over her so perfect body. She b was what he needed, she was all he needed.

Their hands clutched. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her neck. He heard her moaning. Eyes closed, enjoying the work of his man. He kept by kissing her breast, her belly and then came back to her mouth. She grasped his lips as his face was close to hers. She deepened the kiss, she wanted more of him. He pushed her harder against the wall. Steam surrounded them. Atmosphere was hotter and hotter. He pressed his body against her. He did his best to warm her, to give her pleasure. She moaned again and again. She pressed Neil's hands. She finally rested her head over his chest. She was exhausted but this moment was definitively worth it.

They came out of the shower sweating, tired but blessed. They went to bed and fall asleep naked, cuddled against the other.

In the morning, they stayed a little longer in the bed, hugging and kissing. They had to be at Bonaventure for 10 AM. It was perfect to dawdle in bed, stroking each other's skin. She loved when he was running his fingers against her bare skin. He kissed her shoulder. She took one of his hand, pressed it and put it on her breast. She liked to feel it there. The alarm clock rang the end of their procrastination.

They got dressed, ate breakfast. Neil drove till Bonaventure. Routine morning in San José. A routine they were about to leave.

"When do we tell them we're leaving?" Claire asked Neil.

"The earlier, the better… I mean Mrs. Lynch is already informed of…"

"Neil, I don't talk about Mrs. Lynch. I'm talking about the others: Audrey, Marcus, Shaun… "

He paused for a moment. "Probably the sooner we can… What are you thinking about this? It must be a common decision. It's us leaving and I want to tell them the truth when we are both on the same line…"

She pinched her lips. The same thing she always did when she was happy with what was happening or what she was listening to. "We could tell them as soon as we have arranged everything with the HR. So we have a precise date to give them. And to be honest, I'd rather tell Morgan and Alex first… I mean, they have been the only two people who have been there for us since the earthquake. I never thought I'd tell something like this but Morgan Is kind of my best friend now, like Alex. I want to talk to them first."

He nodded. "What about invited them to dinner this weekend? I'll do the cook and you take care of the dishes…" He let out a laugh. She started laughing too.

"That's a deal."

Neil parked the car. They walked through the parking talking about the dinner they were about to host, holding hands.

"You look nice, today, Claire. You too, Dr. Melendez."

They jumped of surprise. Neil nodded to Shaun to say hi. "Oh Shaun! So good to see you! How are you?"

"Good, thank you. Claire, I've heard you were having a big surgery tomorrow and I was wondering if I can join you to watch."

"Oh yes of course! Come this afternoon in my office and I'll update you about the case!"

"Ok."

"Is everything Ok, Shaun? You seem … Sad..."

She gave Neil a nudge and then looked at him with big eyes. 'Yeah Shaun, you seem to feel under the weather… Can we do something for you?"

"No…"

"But if you need help or someone to talk you know we're here with Claire, right?"

"So… Ok… Lea and I had a fight and she left the apartment."

Claire let go of Neil's hand to comfort Shaun. "Shaun… I'm so sorry for you… I know you care about her … But maybe she's not right for you… I mean since you're with her, all I see is you suffer… Have you considered maybe she's not the one…"

"No, no, no."

She put her hand on his back. "Shaun, don't take it personally… But I have the impression, you're always feeling miserable when she's around… Maybe you should be with someone who respects you for who you are and loves you despite your fears and flows…"

She raised her eyes and looked at Neil. He smiled at her. She had finally found her happy place, the one she thought she'll never find. Neil talked to Shaun, maybe he will better hear a man's point of view.

"Shaun, I don't want to be rude… Or to interfere in your personal life but you seem to be sad since she's around… Think about you, what you want, what you would like. And ask you if Lea could be a part of this. If you think, she can't, it's because she's not the one for you… The one will always think of you first. The one will always tell you when you're right or wrong. And she will make you feel loved and secure…"

He pressed Claire's shoulder. She was his one, his better half, the person he entrusted the most in the world. Shaun nodded and left them. They hoped he listened to them. Claire didn't like to see his friend so unhappy. "Time to go to work. I'll call Mrs. Lynch this morning and I keep you in touch."

"Ok" But her mind was still caring about Shaun. She was like this, always caring about the others. It was what made her so special. He kissed her before going out of the elevator.

"See you." She waved at him and joined her office. She had work to do before solving her personal issues. She studied to be at her best for her big tomorrow surgery. Then she went to see her patients. Mrs. Anderson was getting better. Her falling in her garage will soon be an old memory. Mr. Harrington was still in a coma but his exams showed his infection had stopped spreading. Mr. Harris was so happy when she told him he will be discharged in the new few days. As she was on her way to go see her last patient, Mrs. Burgess, she was stop by Neil.

"I've got good news. "

"What?"

"Mrs. Lynch has time for us around 6. Is it Ok with you? "

"Oh that's great! Of course, I'm Ok."

She was so excited. It was a first step towards their new life. As everyone looked at them, she realized she had talked way too loud. He let out a laugh.

"I may have been a little bit too enthusiastic." She shrugged and made a face. "They all look at us."

"And you care about this, really?"

She laughed. Of course, she didn't. She passed through this a while ago. "See you at 6, then."

She nodded. They wanted to kiss so badly, but neither of them wanted to do so in the corridor of the hospital. Who did this anyway! They will have time to kiss tonight when they will be at home alone. He left and reached the elevator followed by his residents, as she used to be once. Oh God, he was so sexy in his white coat! She took a deep breath and went to see Mrs. Burgess to talk about her surgery on the next day.

At 6 PM, Claire joined Neil in front of the HR office. They took a deep breath and opened the door. Mrs. Lynch was waiting for them. "Always on time!"

They smiled and nodded. "I don't show you the way to my office, I think you do know it now."

They sat in front of her desk. "I imagine that if you want to see me, it's because you have found something…"

"You guess right…" Neil spoke first. "In fact, last week, we went to Raleigh to meet Dr. Allison Cameron… And we kind of come to an agreement… She wants us to start in Raleigh General Hospital as soon as possible…"

"We hope you could help us to deal with all the papers and the hospital administration so we can give her a date for our arrival in Raleigh."

Mrs. Lynch looked at them seriously. She remained silent for a moment. After a while, she opened her mouth. "You know that once the process is launched, there's no turning back…"

Neil and Claire swallowed hard and then nodded. "We do know this." Claire pressed Neil's hand as she answered this to Mrs. Lynch. "Believe me ,. We talked about it for months before finally meeting Dr. Cameron. We even talked to you before we started our researches. It is a rational process…"

"And this was what I wanted to hear. Give me some times for calling the board and I keep you in touch. I may have an answer tomorrow."

This night, Neil and Claire came back home a little lighter. The process was on. Soon, they will be far away from San José. It will be weird to be away from their friends, but they could come and visit! Before they could even think about all that was about to change, they felt asleep.

On the day after, they came to work as an ordinary day. They did their work as ordinary doctors. Claire spent more than 5 hours in the OR to fix Mrs. Burgess' aorta. Shaun was there with her. It was good to spend some time with him. She loved to work with him from the day he arrived in Bonaventure and for a moment, she asked how she could explain to him she was gonna to leave soon. Anyway, it was not the place to think about this. Mrs. Burgess needed her whole attention.

"Thanks for your help, Shaun! It was nice to operate with you, today."

He was focused on cleaning his hands in the big sink. "Thanks for allowing me to assist you."

She smiled. He was growing up at his own rhythm days after days. But she could say he had changed since the day they met. He had more assurance now than before. Soon he will fly on his own. She was proud of him.

"How are things with you and Lea anyway? Yesterday, you seemed sad and lost. Neil and I were sad for you…"

He remained silent for a moment. He balanced his head. She knew he only did that when he was embarrassed. "Is everything alright, Shaun? You know you can talk to me… I'm your friend."

He didn't say a word. She didn't force him to. He will talk to her when he felt it. She cleaned her hands, took off her cap and blue scrub. "See you soon, Shaun."

"I broke up with Lea yesterday."

Claire stayed speechless for a while. "You did?"

"I did… I had thought about what you said yesterday with Dr. Melendez. And you were right… Lea never accepted me for you I was. I wish she did but she didn't."

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry… I had been dumb."

"No one is dumb when it comes to feelings, Shaun. It's hard to admit a relationship is over. Especially when you still care about the person… But sometimes, it's necessary to move on and find the good one. Because there is a good one for you someone in this world, Shaun. You just have not found her yet. But you would…"

"Like you and Dr. Melendez…"

She smiled. "Yes, Like Neil and I. It's complicated to find the right one. But I can assure you, Shaun. When you find the right person, the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, everything seems easier. You can fight over laundry, cleaning or shopping… At the end of the day, it doesn't matter…"

"Ok." Shaun left quickly. She knew he needed time to process all she had just told him. But he will. She turned her phone on and saw Neil had sent her several messages. Mrs. Lynch gave them a departure date. They will be freed from any engagement in Bonaventure Hospital in three months…