Erin hadn't returned when a doctor came into the family waiting room. Somehow, Dave knew that this was the woman who would be performing the transplant procedure, and he rose to his feet as she approached him and Alex. "Are you David Rossi? I was told to expect you here today, by a Penelope Garcia?" she asked as she reached out her hand to him.

Taking it, he shook her hand firmly as he nodded, taking a deep breath as he tried to ready himself for what was about to happen. "I am, and I am also looking forward to what you have to tell me. Thankfully, Penelope has tried to inform me about the surgery, and what it will entail, but I know that you can probably tell me the details in a way that I can understand."

She nodded, and looked over at Alex. "Is Erin here or is she with Helena?"

"She went to get us coffee a few minutes ago, I think she'll be back soon," Alex replied, and the doctor nodded. Dave still didn't know the woman's name, and he looked for a nametag. She must have noticed him looking as she shook her head a little.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Anne Brody, and I'm the lead doctor on Helena's transplant procedure. There will be an entire team, but I'm the person who will be harvesting a piece of your liver and implanting it in your granddaughter."

"Are we going ahead with things, then?" Erin's voice was quiet, but still seemed so loud to his ears. Turning slightly, he looked at his partner, seeing the dark circles beneath her eyes that told him she hadn't slept well. He hadn't noticed that when he had first entered the room, and that tore at his battered heart. He went to reach out and rest his hand on her shoulder, only for her to subtly pull away, and Dave let his hand drop once more before he answered her.

"Of course we're going to go ahead with things. She's my granddaughter."

A tiny, sad, smile flitted across her features before Erin looked over at Alex. "When the children come, please tell them where we are."

"Of course, Erin. I hope that this meeting is productive for you both." He nodded at her before following Doctor Brody down to her office, Erin trailing behind them. He desperately wanted to fall back and walk with Erin, but each time he tried to do that, she would also slow a little, putting more space between them until he took the hint and stepped up next to Doctor Brody, trying to find some small talk to make, but every word died on his lips before he could vocalise it. Finally they reached the office, and Dave made certain to take the seat furthest away from the door so that Erin could feel like she had the space to escape if things got too close for her.

The door closed with a loud thud, and Dave glanced at Erin, taking in the way her fingers danced nervously on her lap. Unable to rein in his reactions, he slipped his hand off his lap and covered one hand with his own, wanting to offer her comfort. Though she wouldn't look at him, she did flip her hand over so that they could thread their fingers together as they waited for the doctor to speak. "All right, the first thing I have to say is that I am glad you are willing to do this for your granddaughter. It is major surgery, and you will face a lot of hurdles to overcome as you recover. Given your age, those risks will be greater than someone ten or twenty years your junior. However, my team will be doing everything in their power to make it a smooth journey for you."

Erin's hand tightened around his, and he squeezed back as he nodded. "From the information that Penelope collated for me, it reads like I'll be off work for three months."

"We would prefer six months for someone of your age, but the starting goal will be three months, yes. Now, you are a writer along with your work for the FBI, correct?" He nodded once more. "Well, I would think about using the downtime to work on your next manuscript."

Doctor Brody smiled at him, but it wasn't a nice expression, more one that told him he would be best to follow her directions if he wanted to come out of this in the best possible health. Drawing in a deep breath, he licked his lips before responding. "My editor has been asking when I was planning on starting my next book, so she'll be pleased to hear about your suggestion."

"Excellent. Now, let me run through what the next two weeks will look like for you…" Dave found himself fascinated by what the doctor was saying, able to finally parse a few of the things he had found confusing in the binder Penelope had made for him. In all, they spent about ninety minutes going over his questions and setting about a time for him to check into the hospital later that week. It was a bit overwhelming to him, but he was assured that if he had any questions, he was free to call Doctor Brody. Finally, she was handing him a packet of documents to fill out before getting to her feet and reaching across the desk to shake their hands.

Whatever détente that had risen between him and Erin faded the moment they were outside Doctor Brody's office, as Erin didn't reach out to take hold of his hand again. He felt a bit sad at that, since he had hoped that small thaw between them would last longer than the average comedic movie. Feeling himself deflate a little, he trudged back to the family room with Erin, trying to keep in mind the fact that he would be very shortly doing something that would save their granddaughter. Just before they reached the family room, he stepped in front of her and stopped, looking at her until she looked back at him. "Erin…"

"What, David?" Those two words were full of pain, and he let his shoulders drop as he reached out to rest his hand on her upper arm.

He was going to respond when he saw Greg and Harriet start coming down the hall towards them. The smile that automatically started to spread across his face tightened when he saw Harriet's eyes narrow into angry slits as they came to a stop. He drew in a deep breath to greet them and Erin frowned a little as she turned to see what he was staring at. The stormy look on Harriet's face just became more pronounced when she noticed her mother acknowledging her presence. "Greg, if you want to stay here and talk to them, I'll go in and see my brother and sister."

The way she spat out those words felt like tiny arrows digging into his heart, and he caught Erin in his arms as she stumbled backwards. "Don't you want to hear about when the transplant will take place?" he said shakily, and Harriet shook her head violently as she rushed past them. Greg just gave them both a disgusted look before he followed after his wife into the family room, and Dave realized in that moment that Alan had gone ahead and told the children the truth of their parentage, and that there would be no delicate way to inform them of what had happened so many years ago.