BOBBY HAD HAD a heart attack. A mild one. But if Rose hadn't been there and acted so quickly, Dr. Singleton said, it could have been much worse. As it was, when he heard what Bobby had done to himself for the past six months, he shook his head and said Bobby was just plain lucky. Bobby could never do anything like that again. He would have to be careful from now on, and he would have to take medicine at the first sign of chest pain. He certainly couldn't undertake anything as strenuous as a pre-Broadway tryout tour. Bobby didn't even try to argue with the doctor. That was when Rose realized how terrified he was.

Rose stayed in the hospital every day until Bobby was well enough to go home. She read to him and brought him food that Lu's cook had prepared according to Bobby's new salt-free diet.

When Bobby came home he didn't want to be alone. Rose stayed overnight with him, in a sleeping bag on the floor. During the day Bobby sat on the daybed and watched television. The casting sessions for The Lady had started, but he didn't even ask how they were going. He didn't talk much at all. After two weeks, Rose went to see Dr. Singleton. “Bobby can't go on like this,” she said. “All he's doing is sitting around worrying about dying. He needs to get back to work; he needs to be a part of the decisions about the cast. He should go to rehearsals, and be with the show on the road before it comes into New York. Having a show produced is the only thing he's ever really wanted. I'll see to it that he takes care of himself.”

After she persuaded Dr. Singleton, she had to persuade Bobby. “I'll be with you all the time,” she told him. “I'll make sure you've always got your medicine, and I'll stick with you like glue. You're not dying on me, Manning. I've invested too much in you.”

So Bobby went to the casting sessions for The Lady and Rose sat in the back of the theater in case he wanted her. And one night—she would always remember that it was after the cast was set but before the show went into rehearsal—he turned to her and said, “I don't have enough money for an engagement ring now, but I will someday. If you marry me, I promise the darn thing will be a knockout.”