Welcome to My World

Chapter 9

The next few weeks were blissful. Everyday consisted of similar things, they would wake up, make or go out for breakfast, go to the golf course, come home, then Caroline would play piano while she and Dean sang, then she would cook dinner (most nights they spent alone, but other nights Dino's parents would come), and then they would watch television and enjoy tea, coffee, or a nightcap. Caroline's favorite part of the night was when Dino would grow tired and yawn, "Alright, Cara Baby, I'm heading to bed. I love you." He would hold her and kiss her. Then they would walk hand-in-hand upstairs parting ways to head to their respective bedrooms.

One night in particular they were walking up to bed and Dean stopped cold in his tracks and clutched his chest, "Dino, what's wrong?" He fell to the floor clutching his chest, "Dino! Talk to me!"

He fainted from the pain and Caroline ran to the house phone and dialed 911. She hurriedly explained what happened and then ran back to Dean while they waited for help. He was in and out of consciousness as she held him, "Dino, I love you."

He squeezed her hand tightly. Within a few minutes, the ambulance arrived and took Dean to the hospital with Caroline following behind in his car. She sat in the waiting room biting her nails not knowing what to do. Finally, the doctor emerged, "Ms. Billings, he's okay. You can go see him."

"What happened?"

"He suffered a minor heart attack. We've got it under control. He's going to have to make some lifestyle changes though."

"Okay, like what?" she asked calmly.

"Like eating healthier, exercise, just taking better care of himself."

Caroline began crying out of relief and rushed to Dino's room, "Hey, Baby."

She began sobbing and hugged him.

"Ah, it's okay. I'm sorry."

"Dino, how could you have a heart attack... you're only 38!"

"I know, Cara Baby. I'm gonna eat better, exercise more, cut back on smoking a little. I want to be here and be with you."

Caroline cried hard and hugged him.

Dean's eyes got teary as he touched her face, "Caroline, I know it's only been two months that we've known one another, but I've never cared about someone so much in my entire life. After that scare, my mind's made up. I don't want to wait a year... or two or however long. Happiness is right in front of me and I'm not going to let it pass me by. What I'm trying to say here is, I love you and I want to marry you. So will you marry me?"

"Oh yes," she cried kissing him. It was crazy. They barely knew one another yet they knew how much they really loved one another. Tears were streaming down her face and Dino wiped the tears away with his thumb and kissed her cheek. "Okay, I need to go call your parents and I should call Frank and Sammy too."

"Can I go on tour?" Dean asked.

"I'll have to talk to your doctor, but I think so. You're going to have to take it a little easier though probably."

Caroline went to talk to Dean's doctor and found him in the hallway, "Hi, I have a question?"

"Sure, what can I help you with?"

"Dean wants to know if he's going to be able to tour."

"Yeah, I wouldn't see why not. It was a pretty minor heart attack. When is the tour supposed to start?"

"In two weeks."

"Yeah, that'll give him time to recover. He will have to take it easy. Sitting down and resting when he can and following a healthy lifestyle, and he should be fine."

"Thank you. Could you direct me to a phone?"

The doctor pointed her toward a phone and she dialed Dino's parents, "Hi, I'm sorry it's so late. We're both okay, but I wanted to let you know that I'm at the hospital with Dino."

"Oh my! Carolina, what's happened?" Dino's mother asked.

"He had a minor heart attack. He's okay though."

"Oh my word," Angela sighed, "I'm going to get Gee and we'll be right there."

"Okay, be safe."

"I love you, Carolina."

"Love you too. Please be safe." When she hung up, she realized that Angela had told her she loved her and it made Caroline feel so cared about by Dino's family. After hanging up, she dialed Frank, "Hey, Frankie."

"Cara?" he asked groggily.

"Frank, we're okay, but I just wanted to let you know that we're in the hospital. Dino had a heart attack."

Frank hung up the phone quickly saying, "I'll be there as soon as I can find a flight."

Caroline then called Sammy just to update him on the situation as well, "Hey, Sammy."

"Cara! How are you?"

"Sammy, Dino's in the hospital. He had a minor heart attack."

Just as Frank had done, Sammy hung up quickly saying, "I'll be there."

When she walked back to Dean's room, he was half asleep, but woke up upon seeing her. "Hi, Baby," he whispered reaching for her. She sat down on the edge of his bed and fixed his messed up curls.

"You're allowed to tour. You're just going to have to be careful."

He nodded. A few minutes later, his parents came into the room. Caroline had noticed when his mother was stressed, nervous, or upset she reverted to speaking Italian. She spoke Italian to Dean as she hugged him. Dino answered her in Italian saying, "Ti amo, Mamma."

Gee saw the tears brimming in Caroline's eyes and so he went to hug her, "Are you alright, Carolina?" he asked hugging her.

"Yes, I'm alright. Thank you for being here."

"Ti amo, Carolina," he said quietly.

"Ti amo, Papa," Caroline smiled as a few tears came from her eyes. She truly loved Dean's parents and couldn't wait to be apart of their family.

"Mamma, Papa, I've asked Carolina to marry me."

Angela ran over to Caroline and hugged her, "Ti amo, Mamma."

"Ti amo, Carolina," she said with tears brimming in her eyes. First, she was thrilled that Caroline was going to marry Dean. She was thrilled Caroline said "I love you", thrilled she was learning Italian, and most of all touched to the deepest part of her soul that Caroline had called her "Mamma".