O'Brien - Staying or Going?

[HPF Bob]

McNair is leaving his options open, I suppose or letting Smith's fate twist in the wind for a year without knowing what his fate will be. Cancer battles changes people's focus and perhaps Smith won't have the will to go back to the job 12 months from now. You can't say.

As a cancer patient himself, maybe McNair just didn't have the nerve to kick Smith out the door at such a vulnerable time in his life.