He and Blake had spoken for a few more minutes before she had excused herself, saying that she needed to get home to James before he started to worry about her. He nodded absently as she left his office, and then he was settling back into his couch as he stared at the wall, not truly seeing anything as he ran through the last week in his life. There were so many opportunities for him to have chosen different paths, acted more kindly to his love, and he had failed to keep the promise that he had made her in the hospital that he wouldn't leave her side. In short, he had treated her exactly like Alan, and that weighed heavily on his heart.

Rubbing his hand over his face, he finally stood once more and grabbed his go bag before heading out of the office and making his way down to the short hall to Penelope's office. Peeking inside, he found that all the lights were off, though her computers were still running. Not knowing if that meant she was still there, he took a deep breath and slinked his way down the stairs, trying to ignore the look that Anderson gave him as he went past his desk. He knew that the man had every right to be miffed with him, hell, he had warned him what would happen if he upset Erin or Penelope. Rubbing his free hand over his goatee, he passed by the elevators to head down to Erin's office, hoping that she had holed up there with Penelope, and maybe he could try his hand at apologizing to her before they went to sleep that evening.

Her office was completely dark, which told him that she wasn't there, either, and a sinking feeling began to gnaw at his stomach as he made for the stairwell, knowing that he needed the exercise to take his mind off the shitshow that the day had taken. As he went, Dave kept hoping that Erin would text or call him, but his phone was strangely silent as he made his way to his car. After reaching it, he tossed his bag in the passenger seat before fumbling for his phone. Taking a look at the display, he saw that there was a text from Aaron, but other than that, there were no new notifications. Still, he knew that Erin could have just decided to head home and curl up in bed to wait for him, since she was wont to do that after a particularly trying day.

Sticking the phone in his center console, Dave drove home at a quicker pace than normal, as if the silence from Erin spurred him onwards. Which was a curious reaction to have, since he had been so angry with her at the revelation of the truth about the parentage of her children. And he was still upset about the fact that so many years had been stolen from him. And then there was the fact that they would have to tell the children about the new information, if Alan hadn't already, and he did not relish that at all. There was bound to be so many confused and hurt feelings. And Harriet and Greg did not need that stress on top of dealing with Helena's fragile health.

"Helena," he breathed out, his hand ghosting down to where he thought his liver was. He was a perfect match for his granddaughter, he could give her the gift of life, he wanted to give her that gift. But now he didn't know if that would be possible, since Erin wasn't speaking to him and Alan would do his best to make certain that his children hated their true father. "I will do whatever it takes to make certain that you live, my sweet granddaughter."

Letting out a deep sigh, he turned into his driveway. The first thing that he noticed about his house was the fact that there weren't any lights on. That didn't necessarily mean that Erin had gone to her own home that evening, since she could have gone right upstairs to the master bedroom. Pulling into his garage, though, he saw that her car was not in the spot he had cleared for her a few months ago. This troubled him, since that was a clue that he was going to be spending the evening alone, and he felt his heart sink a little more.

Turning off his car, he slipped out of it, making certain to grab his bag before heading into the house. Though he hadn't eaten yet that evening, he found himself not hungry, so he bypassed the kitchen to head into the laundry room. It didn't take long to empty his go bag into the washing machine, and he turned it on before trudging up to his room to refill it. There was an emptiness to the room that tugged at his heartstrings, and it was so easy to start crying, emotions overwhelming him in that moment. He was alone, truly alone, despite having a new family that knew nothing about him. The maudlin thoughts soon began to bring his mood lower and lower, and he pulled out his phone and stared at the screen, debating whether or not to reach out to Erin. It was clear that she didn't want to be with him that evening, which he understood a little of, since he had treated her shabbily, but he still didn't want to leave it that way, since he knew that these little things could fester and grow into something that would be harder to come back from, the longer they allowed a silence to remain between them.

As he stared, the phone began to vibrate in his hand and he felt his heart leap up in hopes that it was Erin reaching out to him. Instead, it was Penelope, and the thud of his heart hitting his stomach took the breath from him momentarily as he answered. "Hello?"

"Hi. I thought I would reach out to you. Um, I won't say that I'm sorry for defending Erin, but I probably could have done it in a more adult manner. I love you both, you know. But her heart is hurting so badly right now, and I just couldn't handle both you and Blake ganging up on her like that. You know, probably better than me, that she's fragile right now, and needs someone to love on her. You gained a family this week, David, but she still feels like she's lost everything."

"I know."

"I think that's what hurts the most in this whole thing. She told me that you promised her that you would be by her side throughout Helena's entire medical journey, and now she feels like she's been lied to once more. Please, for the love of God, David, tell me that you are going to go through with the transplant, that I didn't fuck up royally and steal that from her, too."

Hearing Penelope break down into sobs cracked his heart further, and through his own tears, he nodded. "Of course, I'm still going to go through with the transplant. I would never hurt Erin by denying our granddaughter her chance at life. If you're with her, please, let her know that that is still the plan."

"Don't you think you should tell her yourself?"

"Probably, but I don't know if she'll answer my call right now, and it is important that she knows that tonight. I, I'll see you both tomorrow?"

"Of course, David. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone before he started crying harder, not missing the fact that Penelope had unconsciously started calling him by his full first name, just like Erin did. It was both a comfort and a reminder of everything he was missing that evening, and he could only hope that his friend would take better care of his partner than he had recently.