Dr. David Hayward went to Pine Valley Hospital to give a lecture on cardiac care, hoping to win back his ex-lover, Allie Doyle at the same time. David had first met Allie at Stanford University where he held the position of Associate Director of Cardiology. When the position of Director of Cardiology at Pine Valley Hospital opened up, Joe Martin hired David for it. Allie was very unhappy with David's reappearance in her life. She had broken off her relationship with David after she discovered that David had been unfaithful numerous times.

David swore that he had changed and asked Allie to marry him but she refused. Desperate to win Allie back, David resorted to blackmail. David knew that Allie had doctored her transcripts in order to gain admission to Stanford. In love with David, she told him her secret, believing her secret was safe. However, David threatened to reveal her secret if she didn't agree to marry him. David presented Allie with an engagement ring, but she turned him down. Allie finally told Jake Martin, the man she truly loved, the truth about her college transcripts.

David told Allie that he accepted that their relationship was over and would leave her alone. Unknown to Allie, David had decided to exact his revenge on Jake Martin. When Jake was treating Adam Chandler for an impending stroke, David doctored the medication Jake was treating Adam with. As Adam's heart condition deteriorated, David stepped in and saved the day. David then presented false evidence that Jake had tried to kill Adam. Jake was suspended pending an investigation.

Jake turned the tables on David, enlisting Liza and Stuart in a scheme to entrap David. Secret video caught David confessing that it was he who had switched the medication that almost killed Adam. David claimed that he had only made a medication error, and asked the hospital board to be lenient. Joe Martin wouldn't accept that, and demanded that David be fired. David left Pine Valley for a short time, but not before letting Liza know that he was attracted to her.

When David helped Dixie Martin heal from a serious heart ailment, her uncle Palmer got him reinstated at Pine Valley Hospital. David appeared on Liza's TV show and tried to start up a relationship with her. Liza, knowing trouble when she saw it, brushed him off. Still pursuing Liza, he was there to assist her when she went into premature labor, giving birth to her daughter, Colby. Although she was grateful, Liza could not forgive the trouble David caused.

David was troubled by the reappearance of his mother in his life in early 1999. David believed that his mother was responsible for his father's death and nearly allowed her to die when she collapsed with heart problems.

David knew that Adam, not Jake Martin, was really the father of Liza's daughter, Colby. He had proof that Adam had switched his sperm sample with Jake's. As revenge for Liza spurning him, David planned to break the big news at Liza and Adam's wedding. Trying to get there in time, he drove through a blizzard with Erica Kane as his passenger. An accident ensued, and although David saved Erica's life, she was left badly scarred.

Unbalanced by this, Erica held David hostage in her basement with his hand in a vise, ready to be crushed at any time. David realized the consequences of his treatment of others, and he was overcome by guilt and remorse. He asked her to crush his hand, but she couldn't. After leaving her basement, he disappeared, but returned to whisk Erica to South America for reconstructive surgery. David had used and discarded women all of his life, but he truly cared for Erica. They got engaged, but Erica could tolerate neither his flaws nor his dedication to medicine at her expense.

After their breakup, David began to fall in love with his assistant, Dixie Martin, at the Andrassy Foundation. Obsessed, he attempted to create a rift in her marriage to Tad. He enlisted Leslie Coulson, a lawyer who was obsessed with Tad, in his scheme. Planning to drug Tad only, David accidentally dropped the entire contents of sex drug Libidozone into the punch bowl at a party on the Fidelity Yacht. A very raucous night ensued, and Tad believed he had slept with Leslie. When Dixie found out, she went to David for comfort. Although Dixie had deep feelings for David, she ended their relationship when she discovered that he had set Tad up and manipulated her.

In the summer of 2001, David was tried in court for his misuse of the Libidozone medication, but let off with a slap on the wrist. Concurrent with the trial, he performed a heart transplant on Laura English, the wife of his half-brother, Leo duPres. Shortly after, David became the prime suspect in a drug ring that was supplying the teens of Pine Valley with illegal substances. The leader of the drug ring was known as Proteus. The new chief of police, Anna Devane, targeted David as her main suspect in the Proteus investigation.

Against her better judgment, Anna was drawn to David, as he was to her. Anna's self-confidence, strength, and wit captivated him. But David's lingering affection for Dixie Martin caused difficulty between him and Anna. When Dixie fell ill with a heart condition, David flew to the Caribbean and saved her life with a drug he had developed. David discovered that Dixie was pregnant. With her health problems, it was unlikely she could survive a pregnancy. David helped Dixie leave Pine Valley secretly for a clinic in Switzerland, where he was sure both she and the baby could survive.

Anna was furious at his continued involvement with Dixie, but she loved him anyway. When David was arrested as Proteus, he and Anna hurriedly married. Therefore, Anna, who had full knowledge of David's illegal experiments, couldn't be forced to testify against him. Soon after, Vanessa, David's mother was unmasked as the true Proteus. Cruelly, Vanessa revealed to David that the father he so idolized had been her predecessor and had been killed as a result of his mob connections.

David grieved deeply when he learned that Dixie and her unborn child had been killed in a car crash in Switzerland. David grew close to his brother Leo and cousin Maggie Stone as they all tried to heal from pain Vanessa had caused. Anna and David's relationship was strong. They even decided to try for a baby. But David's troubled past reappeared when Maria Santos Grey, believed dead since 1997, resurfaced.

It turned out that David had always known Maria had survived her accident. When David had found her five years earlier, he had saved her life by injecting Maria with an experimental drug he had developed. Although her life was spared, the drug had wiped her memory clean. David had sent Maria, who was called Maureen Gorman, to live in New Mexico. Brooke English discovered that Maria was alive and tracked her down. Maureen panicked and called David. He helped her hide, but finally Maureen went to Pine Valley to find out why so many people were interested in her. When Maureen arrived in Pine Valley, she asked David who this Maria person was.

Afraid of what would happen if the truth were revealed, David lied. He told Maureen she had killed Maria and that was why he had hidden her. Maureen/Maria attempted to flee Pine Valley, but she was arrested and learned her true identity. Maria and everyone else in Pine Valley were furious at David for what he had done. Anna was crushed to learn that her husband could commit such a monstrous act. She first arrested him and then divorced him. But Anna was pregnant. When David found out, he fought to win her back and be a father to his child. In spite of everything, Anna still loved David. When his mother, Vanessa, and his brother, Leo, were killed, Anna reconciled with David.

David was sentenced to community service at the run-down Front Street Clinic. During a crisis at the clinic, Anna was held at knifepoint by a young thug. Anna and David were frightened when a checkup showed no sign of a heartbeat for the fetus. Anna flew to Switzerland for several months of treatment, while David remained behind completing his community service. When Anna returned, David had to perform critical heart surgery on his unborn child. The operation was a success, and Anna gave birth to a little girl. They named her Leora, in honor of Leo. Unfortunately, Leora had heart problems and Joe Martin suggested she get a pacemaker. David wanted to wait for the surgery until Leora was stronger.

David's fear for Leora grew into an obsession until finally he didn't even trust Anna to care for her properly. Finally Anna had enough and forced David to agree to the surgery. Otherwise, she would expose the illegal drug he had given Edmund Grey when she was in Switzerland. Reluctantly, David agreed to the surgery. During the surgery, David thought Leora's life was in danger and demanded that he be allowed to take over. Joe Martin refused and had David ejected. While Tad prevented him going back into the surgery, Leora died on the table. Anna and David were heartbroken and blamed each other for her death. Anna left Pine Valley. Convinced that Joe and Tad had killed his daughter, David swore vengeance on the Martin family.

David was reluctantly pleased to have another chance at fatherhood when Krystal revealed that he was her daughter Babe's father. Determined to do everything that he could to make Babe's life easier, David succeeded only in driving a wedge between himself and his newfound daughter. David hated Babe's husband, J.R. Chandler, and was convinced that J.R. would hurt his daughter.

When he found out that the child his daughter was raising was actually Bianca Montgomery's child, David was torn. He cared deeply for Bianca, but he went along with the deception that it was Bianca's child who had died while Babe's had lived. Reluctantly, he agreed to keep that secret so his daughter could salvage her marriage. When David discovered that J.R. intended to divorce Babe and take the child, he felt vindicated in his hatred of J.R. When Babe discovered that her child was alive, David helped Babe and Jamie Martin to escape from Pine Valley with the little boy. David reveled in the pain J.R. felt after Babe had lied and told him that their child had died.

When Babe and Jamie were captured, David did everything he could to see that Babe didn't suffer for what she had done. Babe's mother, Krystal, went to prison for her part in the baby switch. After learning that David had known that Bianca's child was alive and kept it a secret, both Bianca and Erica cast him out of their lives. David lost his medical privileges and was forced to work at the hospital as a janitor. Blaming Jamie for not saving Babe from J.R., his hatred for the Martin family grew stronger.

A woman who had been in prison with Krystal, Di Henry, arrived in Pine Valley. When David met Di, he hatched his plan to punish both J.R. and the Martins. He coached Di with all the details of Dixie's life, and had her pretend to be Dixie returned from the dead. J.R. and Tad were thrilled to have their mother and wife back from the dead, and only David knew the truth. David altered a DNA test to prove that Di was Dixie. David also discovered that Di was really Dixie's half-sister, and used his knowledge to manipulate her. When Di's true identity was finally exposed, J.R., Tad, and the rest of Pine Valley treated David as a pariah. But it turned out that the real Dixie was alive, and she returned secretly to Pine Valley.

David was the first person to discover Dixie when she returned, and he was overjoyed to have her back. David wanted Dixie back in his life, and he was willing to do anything to be with her. Dixie was searching for her daughter, whom she had given up for adoption after her car crash. The doctor who had taken the child was Greg Madden, a fertility expert on staff at Pine Valley Hospital. David wanted Dixie so badly that he misled her in her search for her child, hoping to win her love. When she discovered his lies, Dixie threw him out of her life. David was left with only two goals in life -- protecting his daughter, Babe, and exacting revenge on all the people he felt had wronged him.

David decided to leave Pine Valley, but he was determined to leave chaos in his wake. He sent Tad and Dixie on a fruitless search for their daughter by faking DNA, and told Kendall the true paternity of Emma McDermott. He also told Dixie that Adam's wife, Krystal, was pregnant with Tad's child. He mixed his lies with truth to cause the most damage he could. He told Babe goodbye, warning her that her husband was a dangerous man. Babe rejected both him and his advice, and David took off for Indonesia.

David returned to town in October of 2008, right as Babe took her last breath. David tried to revive her, but he was unsuccessful. David vowed that he would get revenge on Adam and J.R., since he blamed them for Babe's death. David set out to create a new memorial wing at Pine Valley Hospital in Babe's honor. While he planned the construction of this wing, he blackmailed Joe Martin into stepping down as chief of staff at the hospital. David became the new chief of staff.

David concocted a scheme where he would pay Amanda Dillon to get J.R. to start drinking again and fall off the wagon, so he could get custody of his grandson, Little Adam. In the process of this scheme, David and Amanda had a one-night stand. David paid Amanda a lot of money, and Amanda was successful, since J.R. started to drink again. However, Amanda started to be disturbed by the scheme and wanted out, but David wanted her to continue to get J.R. to fall.

David and Krystal got closer together when they both grieved for their daughter's death. David started to drug Krystal with non-FDA-approved pills to get her to be vulnerable to sleep with him. While Tad was out of the country, Krystal slept with David, and Tad found out about it. Tad and Krystal divorced, and Krystal wed David shortly after her divorce from Tad.

Amanda became pregnant and said that J.R. was the father of her baby. When Frankie Hubbard did an ultrasound, he told her the date of conception for her unborn child, and Amanda realized that David was actually the father. Frankie changed the date of conception to make it look like J.R., not David, had fathered Amanda's child.

David told J.R. that he'd paid Amanda to get J.R. drunk, so David could get custody of Little Adam. Amanda confirmed to J.R. that what David had told him was true. Nevertheless, J.R. still stood by Amanda, but David dropped another bombshell on J.R.: That he, not J.R., was the father of Amanda's baby. Amanda broke the bad news to J.R., and J.R. vowed to never have anything to do with Amanda again.

David sued for custody of Little Adam but, when he went to file the papers, it was revealed that Adam had taken Little Adam on vacation with J.R.'s permission. David blackmailed a judge into having both J.R. and Adam arrested for kidnapping. J.R. was arrested, and bail was denied -- until Erica Kane intervened. Erica introduced herself to the judge and managed to get him to release J.R. on his own recognizance and also persuaded him to bow out of listening to the case. Erica broke the news to David and said she wanted to make sure the trial was fair for J.R. At the trial to determine custody of Little Adam, the judge ruled that Little Adam should remain in foster care with Jesse and Angie Hubbard.

J.R. regained full custody when Krystal testified in favor of J.R. at the hearing. Adam had blackmailed Krystal. David knew Krystal was hiding something, but she refused to tell David what Adam had on her. Krystal invited Marissa Tasker to stay at Wildwind. Krystal introduced her as the daughter of a friend. Marissa had recently lost both her parents and struggled to pay for law school.

David learned Marissa was his daughter when he threatened to kill Adam. David and Adam each held the other responsible for the defective heart valve that nearly killed Zach and Kendall Slater's son Ian. Adam pleaded for his life by revealing that Krystal had given birth to twin girls, Babe and Marissa. Krystal had sold Marissa. David and Marissa were both shocked. David's marriage to Krystal did not survive. Marissa continued to live at Wildwind after Krystal moved out.

Marissa wanted to get to know David and stood by him when he was a suspect in Stuart Chandler's murder. A nurse, Gayle, provided him with an alibi. Gayle was in love with David, and he used this to his advantage. When David was called before the hospital ethics board, Gayle took the blame for tampering with Adam's medication. David gave Gayle a special patient to care for outside of Pine Valley.

David turned his focus to Amanda's baby. He was determined to get custody. Jake and Amanda married and went out of the country for their honeymoon. Tad accidentally told David where they had gone. Jake and Amanda told David his son died during delivery. Jake made plans for the baby to be adopted. David was suspicious when he was not allowed to see the body.

David planned a memorial for his son. He planned to bury the ashes next to Babe. David became interested in Liza Colby's newborn son, Stuart. Liza acted strangely around David and did want him near Stuart. David was suspicious. Liza believed she had adopted Amanda's son. Krystal overheard a conversation at the Martin house and learned that Amanda's baby was still alive.

With Krystal's news, David guessed Stuart was his son and held Liza at gunpoint. She confessed that Stuart was Amanda's baby. However, Stuart was not. Jake had predicted Amanda would want to raise her son. Amanda's son Trevor was in Pine Valley with Jake Martin's friend Taylor Thompson. Taylor and Jake made plans for Trevor to be left anonymously, and then picked up by Amanda.

Randi Hubbard found Trevor first. Trevor was taken into protective custody. David learned the truth and was granted custody. He allowed Amanda to move in with him at Wildwind, as long as she stayed away from her husband, Jake. Jake and Amanda continued to sneak around, but David was onto them.

Amanda and David were partners for the dance-a-thon charity benefit held at Fusion. David witnessed the strain in Amanda's marriage. Amanda and David began to bond over Trevor. David wanted Amanda to leave Jake for him, so he devised a new scheme. Amanda could have shared custody and live with Jake if she would have another baby with David.

Marissa was disturbed by David's quest for children and felt he did not care about getting to know her, so she moved out. Amanda saw the deal as her only way to be free of David, so she agreed. On the way to the artificial insemination appointment, David arranged for the car to break down. David convinced Amanda to sleep with him to make a baby. Amanda lied to Jake about what had happened. Amanda's guilt drove her further away from Jake.

David stepped down as chief of staff before the truth about how he had drugged Adam became public. David realized it was unlikely he could father a child, so he had a paternity test run on Trevor. It confirmed David's fear; he was not Trevor's biological father. David worried Jake and Amanda would learn the truth, so he faked having a rare form of cancer. He claimed he had six months to live. Amanda believed David, but Jake did not. Amanda's marriage to Jake was placed under further strain when Amanda showed sympathy toward David.

David began making trips to Gloucester to see a mystery patient. The mystery patient was Greenlee Smythe. David had rescued Greenlee the night of her accident and faked her death. Greenlee needed a risky experimental medical procedure to avoid paralysis. Greenlee was grateful David had saved her. David told Greenlee the truth of Trevor's paternity. Greenlee convinced David to tell the truth, but it was too late. Amanda learned David's disease could be passed to Trevor, so without consulting David, she had tests run at the hospital. Trevor's paternity was revealed. Jake was the father, not David.

Marissa was upset her father had lied to her about a terminal illness, and the Martins were irate with David for lying about Trevor. David left town, but Greenlee wanted him around to help her make her entrance back into Pine Valley. Greenlee was livid that Ryan had moved on with Erica Kane. Erica had also taken over Fusion. David helped Greenlee exact her revenge on Erica by breaking into Fusion and destroying files. He also went along with Greenlee's plan of revenge on Ryan. She wanted to marry David one year from the day she would have married Ryan.

Greenlee and David were married. They married out of friendship and revenge, but David fell in love with Greenlee, and they consummated their marriage. Greenlee's father, Jackson, along with Ryan and Erica, wanted David to pay for faking Greenlee's death. When David was taken to the police station, Greenlee helped David escape. David hid at the Chandler mansion. When Greenlee was arrested for helping David, he emerged from hiding. David stood trial for faking Greenlee's death, but Greenlee stood by him, and he was acquitted.

Ryan tried to win Greenlee back several times, but claimed he was done with Greenlee when she sided with David at the trial. David did not believe Ryan and Greenlee were truly over. He tried to blackmail Madison North into seducing Ryan to get him away from Greenlee. Madison refused. David and Greenlee set up Erica to make it look as though she had stolen money from Fusion profits that was dedicated to the Miranda Center. David also had Erica's jet tampered with. The jet went down, and Erica was missing. Greenlee began to doubt David.

Ryan and Madison North began to date. Greenlee became jealous and followed Madison and Ryan on a business trip out of town. While intoxicated, Greenlee told Ryan she still loved him. When Greenlee returned home, she told David she was moving out. David blackmailed Greenlee into staying with him. He made it look like Greenlee had set up Erica at Fusion and that Greenlee was behind Erica's plane accident.

Ryan learned why Greenlee was staying with David and decided to help her get out of her marriage. Greenlee pretended she wanted to work on her marriage. When David realized Greenlee and Ryan were working together, he faked his death at a party hosted by Caleb Cooney. He framed Ryan for his murder.

Greenlee and Ryan were both suspects in David's murder. They tried to cover for one another and admitted they still loved one another. Ryan and Greenlee began to believe David had faked his death. While Zach Slater helped Ryan and Greenlee obtain proof, he was killed in a plane crash. Greenlee was found guilty of David's murder and sentenced to prison. When the verdict was delivered, David burst into the courtroom. David claimed he loved Greenlee. He wanted to punish Ryan, not her. Zach's family and friends blamed Zach's death on David's schemes.

David escaped from police custody and went after Ryan. Kendall shot David, but Erica claimed she was the shooter to protect Kendall. David fell into a coma. Greenlee was still married to David, so she was responsible for his medical decisions. She released herself from that duty, and Liza Colby took over as David's advocate. When David awoke from the coma, he learned Greenlee and Ryan were engaged. He signed divorce papers so Greenlee could move on. David's daughter Marissa agreed to represent David when charges were filed against him for numerous crimes related to faking his death.

The charges against David were dropped when he made a deal with Erica. Kendall needed surgery to repair her heart, but only David had the skills to save her. David refused to operate on Kendall unless Erica used her influence to secure him a full pardon. Erica complied, and David saved Kendall's life.

After David's pardon, he found Annie Lavery in the park with her daughter Emma. Annie was planning her escape from Pine Valley with her daughter. Emma was Annie's child with Ryan and David recognized an opportunity to cause pain to Ryan. He aided Annie in kidnapping Emma and initially refused to help Ryan track them down. When Annie's mental health started to deteriorate David realized Emma needed to return home and he tried to contact Annie on Ryan's behalf.

David's medical license had not yet been reinstated so he started volunteering at a free clinic to begin the reinstatement process. He also met with Angie Hubbard and offered to restore her eyesight through the use of an experimental procedure. Angie's husband Jesse ordered David to stay away from his wife but Angie agreed to be treated by David.

After fourteen years of flirtatious banter and temptation, Liza Colby finally ended up in David's bed. She felt she had no one left to turn to after her affair with her daughter's boyfriend became public knowledge. Liza briefly believed she and David could be a powerful couple until she realized David was still in love with Greenlee. David continued to make waves in Greenlee's marriage to Ryan Lavery. David found out that Greenlee had been deceitful to Ryan regarding his unborn child with Madison North. David claimed he knew the real Greenlee and he would be waiting for her when she was done trying to be someone she was not.

David found a way to regain power in Pine Valley when he teamed up with "Erica Kane." David discovered "Erica" was an imposter when he encountered her drinking and witnessed her suffering an allergic reaction. The name on her medication revealed her as Jane Campbell. David blackmailed Jane into using her influence as "Erica" to have him reinstated as chief of staff at the hospital in exchange for his silence regarding her identity. Jane was attracted to David and they slept together. Erica's family learned of her involvement with David and held an intervention for her. David interrupted the intervention and proposed to Erica/Jane and she accepted. Their brief engagement ended when Jane released Erica.

Ryan's ongoing feud with David was renewed when Ryan discovered David was working on experimental medical procedures called Project Orpheus. David tried to squelch Ryan's investigation into the project by claiming it was about providing health care for orphanages. Ryan saw through David's cover story and continued to investigate. Ryan learned David's partner in the project was Griffin Castillo. Griffin knew David achieved success using stem cells to revive dead tissue in lab rats and Griffin wanted to know if David had experimented on humans. David confessed he had used the treatments on Maria Santos and Greenlee to bring them back from death.

David did not tell Griffin he had also saved Dixie's life and he had Dixie hidden away in the same compound Jane had held Erica. David was present when Erica emerged from captivity. She explained to Jack Montgomery and Jesse Hubbard that David knew Jane was an imposter and held her prisoner but did nothing to save her. David refused to admit Jane existed and led everyone to believe Erica was mentally unstable. Erica stabbed him in the lung which confined David to a hospital bed, rendering him unable to track down Dixie when she escaped.

As David recovered in the hospital, Griffin pressured David to reveal if he had experimented on anyone else. David hinted that Zach Slater may still be alive. Greenlee visited David in the hospital and revealed some symptoms she had experienced. David explained he would need to examine and treat Greenlee at a secret facility because her symptoms were related to the procedures she had undergone when David saved her from the car accident. David explained she would have to place her trust in David and keep their involvement secret. Greenlee agreed to David's conditions and he convinced Greenlee to leave the hospital with him when he hinted that her first great love Leo du Pres might still be alive.

Greenlee and David left the hospital and he drugged Greenlee so she would not know where she had been taken. David revealed to Greenlee that Zach Slater was alive. David left Greenlee with Zach and he returned to his office to find it had been ransacked and his safe had been opened and the DVD he had prepared in the event of his death had been viewed. In the DVD David instructed Griffin to use the Orpheus procedure on him to save him from death. David assumed Ryan had opened his safe and viewed the DVD.

David went to Ryan's penthouse to discuss what Ryan had learned. He believed even Ryan would be impressed with the medical ability to avoid death, even if the power was in David's hands. David granted Ryan permission to ask any questions he had about the project, but Ryan only had questions related to Greenlee's whereabouts. David continued to insist he did not know where Greenlee was. Griffin arrived and restrained David while Ryan took David's cell phone to look for clues to find Greenlee. Ryan threatened to go to the authorities with the information about the Orpheus Project but David reminded Ryan and Griffin he had saved many lives, including Greenlee and was currently restoring Angie Hubbard's sight.

David found Dixie and he expected gratitude from her and her family for saving her life. Instead, Dixie accused David of doing horrible things to her that she could not fully remember. David instructed her to focus on the fact that she survived thanks to him. David left Dixie in Tad's care and went to check on Zach Slater. David resuscitated Zach and took him to Pine Valley hospital.

Zach's loved ones were thrilled to have him back and Zach thanked David for saving his life. He showed his gratitude by becoming David's partner in Project Orpheus. Zach's return meant the end of Griffin's relationship with Zach's wife Kendall and Griffin felt David had betrayed him by allowing him to develop feelings for Kendall while knowing her husband was still alive. Griffin ended his association with Orpheus and warned David he planned to use what he knew to have the project shut down.

David was concerned about Griffin's threats and he headed to ConFusion for a drink where he ran into Griffin's sister Cara. Her marriage to Tad Martin had recently ended when Project Orpheus saved Dixie's life. David learned Cara was on her way out of Pine Valley but her flight was delayed. David offered to let Cara rest at his place until her flight. She accepted David's offer and they left together.

David assumed Cara despised him like the rest of the town but she surprised him by admitting she also felt like an outsider. Cara said she did not feel like an outsider when she was with David and she kissed him. They had sex and David reminded Cara she did not need to run away from Pine Valley and he offered her Griffin's former position at Project Orpheus. Cara accepted the position but made it clear to David that their relationship was strictly professional. Cara dove into the work but her problems with immigration loomed. David appreciated Cara's enthusiasm about the work and he asked an influential patient to resolve her immigration problems. She appreciated what he had done for her.

David learned Cara was not feeling well and she feared her cancer had returned. Her brother was out of touch so David volunteered to be by Cara's side in whatever capacity she needed. David knew Cara needed her brother and he confronted his partner Zach when he realized Zach had kidnapped Griffin. David met with Zach and saw what he believed to be Griffin's lifeless body. Zach explained that Griffin was in the way of Project Orpheus reaching its full potential so he had to be eliminated.

Ryan and Greenlee showed up while David and Zach argued and Zach shot Ryan. David tried to care for Ryan but Zach stopped him. David said he wished he would have allowed Zach to die when his plane went down and he admitted he was one of the silent partners in the casino. He confessed that he had known about the plans to murder Zach and that was how he was in position to save Zach's life. After David's confession, Griffin and Ryan stood up unharmed and David realized he had been set-up. Jesse Hubbard arrived and took David into police custody.

David had several visitors during his time in jail. Angie visited and shared the good news that her sight had returned. She told David that there was good inside of him and he should let the world see it. He took Angie's words to heart and revealed the name and location of another patient to Griffin. J.R. stopped by to question if Babe was one of David's patients. The two men argued and David swore that if Babe was alive he would never let her near J.R. because he had destroyed her.

Cara also saw David and shared the news that her cancer had not returned. Her health issues had another cause. Cara explained she was pregnant with his child but she planned to raise the baby alone. He thanked her for telling him and assured her she would be a wonderful mother to their child. Cara came by yet again and informed David she changed her mind and would like David to be a part of their child's life. She promised to visit him in jail often and they kissed.

David was given a temporary reprieve from jail when Griffin needed assistance at the hospital with the Project Orpheus patient. The patient was Stuart Chandler. David returned to jail after Stuart was declared in good health and Angie and Cara pleaded with Jesse to release David. Adam stepped forward and showed his gratitude for saving his brother by convincing a judge to allow David out on bail. David left the police station with Cara.

David visited Adam at his home during a party Adam hosted to welcome home his brother. Adam told him he was not sure how to thank him for saving Stuart. David recommended thanks in the form of cash and Adam complied although David refused to reveal what he planned to use the money for. David ran in to Dixie at the party and she questioned who the other patient was that David still had hiding. She remembered seeing a woman at his facility. David replied that she would not believe him even if he told her.

Time advanced five years between the final episode on ABC and the first episode of Prospect Park's online version.

Five years later, David was released from prison after five years of incarceration for the attempted murder of J.R. Chandler. At a party at the Chandler mansion five years prior, J.R. had shot and killed David's daughter Marissa. David sought revenge against J.R. and placed him in a coma. Upon his release from prison, David violated the terms of his parole and paid a visit to J.R.'s hospital room. J.R.'s mother Dixie claimed that David had attempted to kill her son and he was banned from the hospital.

A few weeks later, J.R. awoke from his coma and claimed that he had no memory of the night that Marissa was killed. David doubted the diagnosis of retrograde amnesia and vowed to make J.R. pay for what he had done. As David waited for the right time to enact his revenge, he pitched his diagnostic biosensors to Joe Martin but Joe turned him down. While at the hospital, David ran into Cara and sensed that she was hiding something regarding their child. Although Cara claimed that she had suffered a miscarriage five years ago, David wondered if she had aborted their child instead.

As David worked out a new course of action, he offered his friendship and support to Angie Hubbard. Angie had spoken to the parole board on his behalf and he repaid the favor by giving Angie a shoulder to lean on while her daughter was missing. After her daughter was returned, he continued to be there for Angie as she dealt with the pain and trauma her daughter had experienced and David berated Jesse for not providing the support his wife needed. Meanwhile, David purchased a controlling interest in Cortlandt Electronics and forced Pete Cortlandt into a partnership in which David could develop his biosensors. He also spent time with Colby Chandler and they became lovers. Despite her youth, Colby realized that David was using her to get revenge on her father and brother and in return, she allowed David to pay off her debt. Unbeknownst to Colby, David had set J.R. up to fail publically at a gala hosted by Chandler Media. When Colby insinuated that David had sabotaged her brother, they agreed that their arrangement had run its course and parted ways.

Although David enjoyed the negative public scene that J.R. had created, his demeanor became professional after he witnessed a young boy at the Chandler Mansion in a medical crisis. David responded and saved the child's life after the boy had suffered a severe allergic reaction. He enjoyed interacting with child and was reminded that he was robbed of the opportunity to raise the child he and Cara had conceived. David was unaware that the child he had saved was his own son with Cara.