The Hermit; a MacGyver story

By Judybear

Our favorite troubleshooter is out in the wilds of Minnesota making more trouble, of course, when he gets some help from a suspicious and unexpected source. Hurt/angst, adventure. I don't own MacGyver, Pete or Mac's jeep. The rest comes out of my own little brain. (Just an FYI: I have patterned "Doc" after Randolph Mantooth's characters.)

Chapter 10:

Today our patient was actually dressed in a loose-fitting shirt, pants and socks and sitting in one of the Morris chairs. He no longer had the bandage on his head, just a few little scraps of tape holding the skin together. A plank was set across the chair from arm to arm with a bowl of what looked like oatmeal on it, which Mac seemed to be enjoying.

While he was eating, he studied the array of books, instruments, pharmaceuticals and running experiments displayed. "What do you do with all this stuff?"

Doc was busy near the stove preparing a bowl of the same breakfast for himself: hot oatmeal cooked with black walnuts, dried blueberries, granola pears and honey. "Oh… nothing, everything. Care to be a little more specific?"

"Well, like that beaker with something bubbling in it?"

"Ahh!" Doc was delighted to have a chance to tell yet another story… "Now, that is a very ancient tradition, begun by none other than Ghengis Khan … It seems he told his people that to avoid sickness they needed to boil all their drinking water. But they complained that its taste was too bland and so…"

"Tea?!" Mac interrupted.

Doc took the beaker off the burner and poured out two cups of the liquid. "yeah. You look disappointed." He smirked, "What did you think it was?"

"Oh, I don't know … a cure for cancer, a new form of non-polluting fuel … you know, something normal."

Doc chuckled, "Well it isn't exactly tea,"

"Why am I not surprised?" and it was Mac's turn to smirk.

It's actually a coffee substitute made with the ground up roasted roots of dandelions. I made it for our breakfast," he said as he brought one of the cups to MacGyver. "Care to try some? It's not bad."

Mac took the cup as Doc turned to retrieve the other cup and his oatmeal and take a seat at the table. "Dandelions… Sure, why not? … And what about that decanting set-up you have going over there? I suppose that's some kind of wine?"

Doc coughed lightly before answering, "Ahh, well" he cleared his throat, "Uh, that's Rhus toxicodendron extracting."

Mac looked puzzled for a moment as he thought, then looked up, "Rhus tox, isn't that poison ivy?"

"You're good!" then under his breath, "too good. That's right. Poison ivy is an important healing herb. In the proper dosage and form, it promotes healing and eases the pain of damaged muscles and tendons by nourishing them directly." He had a twinkle in his eye as he saw Mac's expression slowly change.

Mac wasn't sure what it was about the Doc's new attitude, but suspected that he was up to something, yet he continued his perusal when his eye caught a glimpse of his medicine cup nearby. Doc was trying hard not to grin at Mac and had turned his head enough that he could just see Mac out of the corner of his eye. Now Mac was really getting suspicious. He looked back at the decanter and how close it was to his medicine cup and a few other jars and bottles, then looked back at Doc with an expression of suspicions-he-didn't-want-confirmed.

Doc finally turned to him with a slight grin, "It's one of the ingredients in the potion I've been giving you."

"POISON IVY?! You've been giving me poison ivy?"

"Now you see why I haven't told you what was in it – not until you'd had some, anyway."

Mac's expression is still incredulous, "But… poison ivy? I don't think I want to know what else is in it."

Doc was back to teaching mode, "Oh, nothing much, some other herbs and extracts, with lemon grass and rose hips for flavor and vitamins, a little honey. Oh, and something to help you sleep, of course."

"Oh, of course. Which would be…?"

"Just some St. Johnswort flowers. It grows wild up here, as do most of the herbs I use," he said, pouring out a dose of the mixture from a nearby jar and bringing it to Mac.

MacGyver eyed Doc with suspicion as he took the cup from him, "Aw, come on now. You don't… really expect me to drink this, do you?"

Doc chuckled as he went back to clean up the breakfast dishes, "That isn't going to hurt you any more than what you've already taken."

Mac was about to drink but then stopped, a puzzled expression on his face, "Say what?"

Doc laughed, then tried to get serious again, "Er, let me rephrase that: You have benefitted so much from what you've taken so far, there's no reason to expect any different results from future doses."

"Uh-huh." Mac was obviously not entirely convinced, but hesitantly sipped at the potion when a bell sounded and Doc stiffened.

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Hehehe! R & R, please!