Disclaimer: This chapter will include what Rex saw when he tried to save Shane and Gigi. I've worked on making it less gruesome so it would be easier to stomach. Not for the faint of heart. (Look at me, sounding so cheesy!) The Michael Kelso reference is from i That 70's Show. /i

Chapter 6 Prince Charming's Three Failed Rescues

Present Time

Rex was holding Gigi's small hand in his own as he looked at her with tender eyes. Her bangs fell in front on face and he brushed them away from her face. "You know Morasco; you're not making this easy on me," he whispered to her lifeless form, "I'm so angry and hurt at you right now. I wish you were awake right now so I can ream you out for hiding the fact that I have…that we have a son." He took a deep breath to reel in his emotions, "Why didn't you tell me from the beginning? Why did you keep this a secret from us?" He reached up and tucked the fallen strand of hair behind her ear. "You and Shane mean the world to me," he confessed, "Haven' you figured that out yet? I drop anyone and everything if you need me. I've done it before and I would have done it for this. I would have always done that for you." He voice rose as his anger returned, "Damn it Morasco!" he stood up and released her hand, "why didn't you tell me! You should have told me! I would have given my life to protect you and him from that cold hearted bastard!" His anger reached a boiling point as he kicked the chair he was sitting in before. He ran his frustrated hands through his hair and rubbed his face. Rex was exhausted, physically, emotionally, spiritually exhausted. He was running on low energy and did not know where he could get the strength for the next few hours of his life to be strong for his new and frail family. "This is all one big mess," he whispered to no one.

"Excuse me," a woman said from behind him, "Are you Rex Balsom?"

Rex spun quickly around and saw a woman dressed in light blue scrubs and her light brown hair pulled back in a messy bun. His first impression of her was that she looked too skinny, like she was borderline anorexic. She could be beautiful if one would go for a woman who looks like she's only every eaten a salad in her life…she's looks nothing like his Gigi. No his Gigi was beautiful in every plausible way.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

Rex shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts, "Sorry," he said, "it's been a long day."

"That's an understatement," she said as she picked up the chair he had kicked to the floor just moments ago.

"Yeah," he said as he helped her with the chair, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," she said, "You have every right to be angry right now but…"

"I'm trying not to be angry," he said cutting off the rest of her sentence, "I'm trying to give her positive energy," he smiled as he extended his hand to shake hers, "I'm Rex Balsom. Why are you looking for me?"

"I'm Dr. Meredith Grey," she said shaking his hand, "I'm Dr. Sheppard's intern..."

"Good evening Mr. Balsom," a dark haired man said behind him.

"Rex," he corrected the man who just walked into the room. This was the type of man that Michael Kelso would classify as 'man pretty.' He just hoped he was smarter than he looked.

"Rex," the man corrected "I'm Derrick Sheppard. Dr. Dorian Lord had called me in for a consult on Gigi's case. Dr. McBain had briefed me on my way in and from my understanding you are Ms. Morasco's power of attorney."

"That is correct Sir," Rex said as politely as possible. He just wanted these people to stop talking to him and save Gigi. He felt like his life was hanging in the balance and the outcome would only be determined on Gigi and Shane's recovering.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Derrick said, "We would like to run some additional tests to get a better picture of the situation. With brain trauma it's best to proceed with all the facts."

"Is there anything you can tell me now?

"Just what you already know," Derrick said, "Gigi has lapsed into a coma, more tests will see if it is the good kind or the bad kind."

"Well here's to hoping for the good kind of coma?" Rex said, his face was indifferent to what the doctor had just told him.

"Basically it depends on when or if she will wake up," Meredith said, "which classifies a good or bad kind of coma."

"Thanks for putting it to me in lame man's terms," Rex said sarcastically before he reeled in his temper, "How long will it take?"

"Not long," Derrick said.

"Rex we understand the situation and know that time is of the essence," Meredith said trying to hurry him along.

"I will leave you to it," Rex said walking to Gigi. He placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered sweet nothings in her ear as well an encouragement to keep on fighting. He kissed her forehead again, "You need to hold on a little longer Morasco," he whispered one last time.

"We'll find you when we're done…" Derrick started to say after Rex was done with his tender moment with Gigi.

"I'll be right outside," Rex said, "this is my family. There's no where else I would be."

Both doctors nodded in understanding. They both knew what it felt like to have the person you love most in the hospital hanging onto life.

Rex left the room and just sat down when John and Antonio approached him. He jumped up to greet the men, "What's going on guys?"

"We need you to come to the station to give your statement about what happened today," John said.

"I can't leave now," Rex said, "The specialist just arrived and is looking over Gigi. Shane's still in surgery. I am needed here."

"It's important…" Antonio began to say.

"This right here is the most important place, where I am needed most," Rex said, gesturing with one hand towards Gigi's door and the other hand where Shane was wheeled off to surgery, "I know you need to do your investigation but I can't leave this place."

"Rex," John said.

"Shouldn't you be out there looking for the bad guy instead of twiddling your thumbs here!" Rex sneered at them, his patience had worn thin and he had nothing left for the men in front of him. "He's getting away and you're not chasing him! Isn't that was cops do! Chase the bad guys!"

Both police officers took a deep breath to keep themselves from yelling back at the worn out man before them. They had watch the rise and now fall of this man as he staggered back onto a chair, slumped down in defeat. The high energy, stress, and emotions running rampant have taken its toll on the dilapidated man before him. They saw his chest rise up and down at a heighten pace and quick sobs escape his lips. If one needed to define a broken man, it would be this picture of Rex Balsom.

"I'm sorry," he muttered out of his lips between tears. He wiped his face and ran his hand through his hair before looking up at the officers with his light pink eyes, "I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been a long day."

"You need some sleep," Antonio said.

"I can't leave here," Rex said, "I'm needed here."

"I'm sure my brother could let you crash in the on call room," John said, "You're no good to either of them Rex if your running on your last leg."

"I can't do anything until I know what's going on," Rex said.

"We have men canvassing the city looking for Brody," John said, "We have all roads blocked, bus stations and the airport under watch. We'll find him."

"But what we need…" Antonio tried to say.

"Can't we just do it here?" Rex said in a small voice that made him sound more like a small child begging for his heart's desire than a grown man asking for a favor.

The officers looked at each other and knew that they could not deny the shattered man before them this one request.

"Sure," John said as he sat next to Antonio and Rex in the waiting area of the hospital, "Do you mind if we record this conversation."

"No," Rex said.

Antonio nodded and pushed the record button before turning his attention to Rex. "Did you have any suspicion that this was going on?"

"If I did, he'd be dead already and this would have never happened," Rex said simply in the most serious expression and tone Rex Balsom has ever used.

"This is not a time for joking around Rex," John said, "This is being recorded for official police business! You can't just admit to two officers of the law on tape no less that you would have killed a man."

"I'm not joking around here," Rex said his voice was calm, "I never have been more serious in my entire life!" Rex paused to take a deep breath and will away the images from tonight, "If I knew that he was putting his hands on her, he'd be dead in heart beat. In fact that bastard better pray to God that I don't find him first."

"Enough with the threats Balsom" John said as he turned off the tape recorder, "Are you looking for trouble?"

"No I'm looking for Brody," Rex snapped, "but he seemed to have fallen off the place of the planet!"

"We have the whole force looking for him," Antonio assured him, "He will be found soon…" Antonio watched in confusion as Rex's calm demeanor had shattered before him and he went back to slumping in the chair. His head cradled in his hands as he tried to stop from crying again. "Are you okay?"

"I should have known," Rex whispered.

"Should have known what?" John asked as he placed a comforting hand on Rex's shoulder as he watched Antonio turn on the tape recorder.

"I should have known something was wrong with her from the beginning."

"What do you mean by that?" Antonio asked.

Rex sat up and starred into space as he began to reveal the source of shame he will be carrying with him for the rest of his life. "Because Brody came back into the picture and Gigi changed completely; her senses were heightened and she was startled easily. Her relationship with Shane changed."

"How?" John asked.

"Gigi has always been protective of Shane," Rex explained, "He was able to do the kid stuff but he had to be home every night. It didn't matter who he was with. Gigi kept him close to home without making Shane feel like he had no freedom. I was never allowed to have him for more than a few hours in the day if we were doing something. Only Viki was allowed to have him for overnight trips and those were few and far between. When Brody came back, Gigi was sending Shane to various camps, overnighters at my house and Viki's, as well as sleepovers at friend's house. It was like everything changed and Gigi did everything in her power to make sure Shane wasn't at home for an extended period of time."

"You thinking she was trying to keep Shane away from Brody and the violence?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah," Rex said, his face fell a little more, "I remember this one time about a year ago, Shane was away at baseball camp and Adriana was in Paris for about two weeks. Gigi had come to my house around midnight. She was so freaked out and nervous about something. Her body wouldn't stop shaking no matter what I did to warm her up. Something had scared her beyond anything I had ever seen in my life…"

One Year Ago

"I know honey," Rex said to Adriana on the phone, "I miss you too." He heard the thunder behind him as the storm ran rampant throughout Llanview that evening.

"I'll see you in a few short days," she said.

"I can't wait," Rex said, "Have a good night."

"You mean morning," she said before laughing.

"Whatever," he said, "It's nighttime here."

"Night Rex," she said, "I love you."

"Me too," he said before hanging up. He looked the phone, "Me too? Me too? Way to be romantic there Balsom!" Rex set the phone on the table, "Me too," he scuffed at himself. He heard the faintest knock on the door. He did a double take not sure if he heard it right the first time. When the tiny knock came again he quickly went to the door and put his ear to the door. He could hear some sniffling from the owner of the tiny knock before the soft tap hit his door. He took a moment to thank God that his midnight caller did not pound louder because it would have hurt his ear. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he opened the door, but the sight he saw he was not prepared for. Gigi Morasco soaking wet from head to toe from the storm that was raging outside of his window. She was shivering from head to toe and he could see the goose bumps on top goose bumps. It took him thirty seconds for his brain to register that this was real and not a dream. He watched as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. He wasn't sure what was rain or tears she was wiping away. "Oh my God," he said breaking away from his thoughts, "Come inside before you catch you death of something that resembles an old wives' tale!"

Gigi was left standing in the kitchen as a small puddle of water quickly formed around her. She watched as Rex darted quickly into the bathroom and came out with some towels. He wrapped one around her and then took another one and tended to her head. She winced when he touched her bruise and saw him mouth his apology. She remembered the baseball incident lie she told him to cover up Brody's punch to her eye. She looked up at his face and saw such determination has he continued to dry her hair without causing her anymore pain. She felt his hands rubbing her arms before moving her to legs. Her body shook at every bruise he unknowingly touched.

He noticed how zombie like she was went he started to towel dry her legs. If Gigi was here, she would have ridiculed him for doing this when the towel first touched her body. She would have said something along the lines that she was an independent woman that was capable of drying herself; this woman never moved a muscle. He also noticed every few seconds her body would shake. "How cold is she?" he thought to himself. When he was satisfied that she was dry he quickly when to his room and grabbed some pajama pants, t-shirt, and a sweatshirt for her to put on. He went back to her and placed the items in her hands, "You can use the bathroom if you like?" he said. He let go of the items of clothing and watched as they fell from her hands as she continued to stare into space.

Rex didn't know what to make of this situation. He's never seen her like this before and what he did know what how terrified he was to see her like this. "It's okay Morasco," he reassured her like a small child, "I can help you get out of those wet clothes and into some dry ones." Rex took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. As he reached for the first button he contemplated in his head if this would be considered cheating. Rex was lost in his thoughts and too focused on his fumbling fingers that he failed to notice Gig's eyes widen in horror. What he did notice was her tiny hands quickly making their way to his chest as she shoved him away hard. Rex fell to the ground and looked up to see the terror in her eyes.

"No!" she screamed as she started grabbing the clothes that fell in front of Rex.

"I'm sorry," he said as he watched her every movement as she picked up the clothes and walked to the bathroom, "You're right and I'm wrong. This is completely inappropriate…." Rex trailed off as the bathroom door closed. Rex heard the lock turn seconds later.

"What the hell is going on here?" Rex wondered as he looked at the bathroom door, "Should I call Brody?" He reached for the phone, "He might have some insight," he was about to turn the phone on when he set it back down. "He's the last person on earth I want to talk to about Gigi," he reasoned with himself, "I don't trust that man with anything. Morasco will tell me." He had this inner debate with himself as he pick up and starting dialing countless times before hanging up the phone again. The phone won the battle when it began to ring, "Hello?"

"Rex it's Brody," the ex navy seal said, "Is Gigi there?"

"I haven't seen her since this morning," Rex said without missing a beat, "Is she missing in action?" He smiled at his own pun. "Do you need help finding her?" he already knew the answer to the question before he asked it. He was amazed at his own actions skills, he would definitely need to remember to thank that academy for the Emmy performance he had going on. "I could be over there in like five minutes."

"No," Brody responded immediately, "that will not be necessary. She's not missing," he continued, "She went out with some friends and hasn't come home yet. I'm sure she'll be home soon. The place is kind of empty; I was feeling a little lonely."

"Sorry to hear that," Rex said, trying to sound sincere.

"I'll let you go," Brody said, "I'm sure she's on her way."

"I'm sure she's unlocking the door even as we speak," he said, "Good night." He heard the dial tone and scuffed at the phone for Brody's rudeness. "I'm positive she won't be home soon jackass," he mumbled to himself. He set the phone down when he heard the bathroom door and turned around quickly. The sight he saw had to be hands down the most beautiful thing he had ever seen: Gigi drowning in his clothes, no make up, and wet hair. In this moment he wished that he had a camera to capture this beauty for all eternity. A beauty that was still shaking from head to toe. He quickly closed the gap between him and ran his hands up and down her arms. "Why is she still shaking," he thought to himself, "What had happened to her?"

"Morasco," he said tenderly as he looked into her eyes, "did you get hurt?" He witnessed the tears immediately spring from her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed her back. "Who hurt you?"

Gigi looked up at him with glossy eyes before lowering her head, shoulder dropped, and an expression he had never seen on her face. He watched her head shake from side to side. "No one hurt you?" he asked.

In the same position she nodded yes before returning her original position. "I think I know," Rex said, he noted her eyes widen in fear of something he was sure what it was, "You miss Shane," he said, "He's been gone for two weeks know at baseball camp. Got a case of the missing Shane blues."

He watched as her body shrank to the pervious position. She looked so sullen as she nodded yes. He didn't know what this position and expression meant. But one year later. Just 365 days or 8,736 hours or 524,160 minutes when Rex would finally learn what this would mean. 31,449,600 seconds later to realize that this was Gigi's final cry for help. Brody tried continuously to break her, but this moment was what broke her.

Rex watched as she back out of his embrace and walked to his bed. She didn't even hesitant to crawl into his side of the bed as she let his smell engulf her. Rex watched as she looked at him with the saddest eyes known to man and then at the empty side of bed. She rolled away from the empty space. Rex quietly walked to the bed and crawled in under the covers. He laid on his back and was unsure what to do. He moved to hold her in his arms but went back onto his back. Gigi solved this inner battle when she rolled over and snuggled closely to his body. Rex wrapped his arms around her and gently held her to him.

"What happened in the morning?" John asked.

"Nothing," Rex said, "I woke up alone. I called her several times but she wouldn't take my calls or return them. And any time after that Brody was always around. If I could take back that night I would. It was my last chance to reach her and I didn't….why didn't I…"

"You can't blame yourself," Antonio said.

"Sounds good only in theory," Rex said, "I take back what I said. I'd take back my wedding day. This time I would not say 'I do' and I would follow Gigi out of that church."

"Tell me what happened last night," John said trying to steer the conversation away from all the 'what ifs' and back to the present. John knew that everyone here had their own lists of 'what ifs' and he was no exception.

"I was in the kitchen when I heard my phone ring," Rex said, "I remember it ringing a lot before I finally took it from Adriana…"

Ten Hours Earlier

"Aren't you going to get that?" Rex asked. He looked over to see Adriana staring at the caller ID, "Adriana?" he asked, "Earth to Adriana, come in Adriana," he said with a smile before he gave up and walked over to her. He grabbed his phone from Adriana and quickly answered it before it went to voicemail, "Hello?" he said in a funny voice. He would soon learn that laughter and fun would be sucked from the world he lives in with one horrifying scream. "Hello?" he said more quickly and seriously, "Who is this?" Rex notice that Adriana's demeanor changed with his tone. She looked confused and curious about the caller.

"Rex you have to save her!" Shane screamed into the phone.

"Shane," Rex said, "what's going on?"

"You have to help her!" Shane said panicking, "You promised me."

"Slow down there buddy and tell me what is going on," Rex said, trying to piece together this puzzle.

"You have to save her!" Shane repeated, Rex could hear the urgency in his shaky voice.

"Who?"

"Mom!" Shane said, "He's killing her!" Gigi's piercing scream could be heard in the background just before something large was broken.

"Where are you?" Rex demanded as he grabbed his keys and heading to the door.

"Home," Shane said, "You have to hurry, he's going to kill her!"

"I'm on my way," Rex said, "You find a place to hide and I want you to stay there."

"I have to save her!"

"Leave the saving to me okay," Rex said, "I want you to find a good place to hide….in fact I want you to run to the main house and call the police."

"I can't…"

"Go now Shane!" Rex ordered as he opened his door, "you're mom would want you safe."

"Okay," Shane said.

Rex turned to Adriana as he walked out the door, "Call the police, Brody is attacking Gigi."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you serious?" Rex asked, "Why would Shane lie about this? Besides the fact I heard her in the background. Call the police and send them to the carriage house. Gigi's in danger, we have to save her!" Rex ran out the door and into his car. He broke all speed limits as he got to Gigi's place in record time. He ran to the front door to find it locked. He went to the rock that held her spare key to find it missing. He looked around to see if it was moved when he heard Gigi scream.

"Leave him alone Brody!" she screamed, "He's just a little boy."

"He's my little boy!" Brody yelled, "Rex Balsom can never have my family!"

"He's not yours!" Gigi yelled, "Everything belongs to…" her sentence was cut off when Brody punched her in the face, sending her back a few feet.

Rex started banging on the door and could hear Brody cursing at him through the door. "When I get my hands on you Brody you're going to wish you were never born!"

"No Balsom," he said, "When I'm finished here, you're the one who's going to be making that wish."

Rex could hear both of his loved ones screaming when he looked into the window. He saw Shane on Brody's back as he tired to protect his mother from that monster. He witnessed Brody slamming Shane into a wall until Shane let go and fell to the ground. He saw Gigi go after Brody only to witness Brody punching her so hard she flew backwards and landed on the coffee table, shattering it into pieces. Gigi had never regained conscious. Rex moved back to the door and could hear Shane screaming for his mother. He kept trying to open the door by force when it became silent. Rex looked in the window to see what was going on when he saw Brody had pinned Shane to the floor and covered his mouth.

"He will never be yours," Brody said.

Rex's eyes widened in horror as Brody lifted his butcher knife from the floor and stabbed Shane in the stomach. Rex started to hit the window with his elbow in hopes to break it as he watched the knife go up Shane's torso. The blood was oozing out of his body and quickly soaked his shirt. When the window finally broke, Rex reached to unlock it when he heard Brody say "You can't have them." Rex reached the lock when he heard the sirens in the background. He unlocked the door and ran to Shane's side. He looked at Gigi and felt helpless, two of them and one of him. Within seconds the police was there and minutes later ambulances for Shane and Gigi. Rex road with Shane to the hospital and had to watch him be revived back to life on the way there.

"And the rest as they say is history," Rex said sarcastically, "The one good thing that came from that night."

"What?" John said a little intrigued.

"Shane remembered to call me if he needed anything," Rex said, "if it wasn't for that, they would both be dead right now."

"Yeah," Antonio said, "that is a good thing."

The door opened and the doctors walked towards Rex. He immediately sprang to his feet to greet the doctor's half way. "What's the prognosis doc?" Rex asked, hopeful for some good news.

"It's good and bad," Derrick said, "Her brain is swelling and we need to do surgery to drill a hole to relieve the pressure on her brain before there will be any permanent brain damage."

"I hope that's the bad news," Rex said.

"The good news is that there should be no permit damage to her brain and she should wake up from her coma sometime after the surgery," Derrick explained.

Rex could not withhold his joy as he quickly reached out and hugged the startled doctor, "Thank you so much!" Rex said with a smile on his face; the first smile seen on his face in over ten hours. The glimmer of hope quickly disappeared when he saw something out of the corner of his eye when he was hugging the doctor. He looked up and pushed away the doctor, "NO!" he screamed as he ran towards Gigi's room.

John and Antonio looked into the window to see Brody Lovett in the flesh standing over Gigi with a butcher knife. There was something white attached to the handle that they could not see. They ran after Rex and joined his struggle in breaking down the door. But all three men were too late.

Rex watched in as Brody lifted the knife up and stabbed Gigi in the heart. His eyes were fixated on Gigi's lifeless form as the door opened. He was numb from head to toe as the police officers began their pursuit of Brody Lovett. Rex turned his head to the side and read the note, "You can never have them." The doctors went past Rex as they rushed to Gigi's side. Throughout all of this, Prince Charming could only think, "I have failed her again."