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Mary Ann set out all the plates quickly enough and then ran back to her hut and the Howell's to get them and Ginger. Within seconds they were all sitting down eating again. Mary Ann though just looked at her plate and listened to the others.
The Professor asked, "So aside for your little swimming adventure today, did you procure us a sufficient quantity of fish?"
Gilligan looked up from his plate and asked "What?"
The Skipper answered as he looked annoyed back at Gilligan, "Yes, Professor I think we caught enough for the first few days. We'll go back out again tomorrow and keep at it."
"Ginger, Mr. and Mrs. Howell...did you get the amount of vine I asked for?" the Professor asked as he turned to them.
Ginger looked at Mary Ann who nodded and answered, "Yes we did. Just check the supply hut."
Mrs. Howell then added, "Although I did lose my beautiful scarf out there to those horrible vines." Mr. Howell then patted her arm again for comfort.
The Professor then looked at Mary Ann who seemed to be fidgeting. "Mary Ann? I see you cooked dinner..."
Before he could ask if she got enough rest she interrupted, "Yes I did and I got the laundry done along with a couple of other things." She closed her eyes for a second and swallowed hard.
He noticed, and given the fact that she practically passed out in his arms that morning he asked her, "Are you ok? You don't seem to be eating..."
Everyone seemed to focus on her and she got flustered, "I'm fine really, just not very hungry. I think I'll go clean the pot and get some things together for breakfast in the morning."
She got up hurriedly and walked quickly back down to the lagoon. For some reason she was very nauseous and lightheaded. Her breathing was ragged and it felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. 'Its the caffeine', she told herself, 'its just been too long since I've had it, that's all. I'll be fine.' She sat down on a rock on the path and put her hand over her chest to calm herself down. It felt as though her entire body were screaming at her to move and it was uncontrollable. She felt torn, it was like her brain was telling her she needed to slow down, but her body was saying no. So, she went back out collecting vines.
After eating everyone pretty much went off to their respective huts, but the Professor noticed Mary Ann had not returned.
Ginger came out of her hut, headed for the Howell's and he asked her, "Ginger, has Mary Ann said anything to you about not feeling well?"
She looked at the Professor and told him, "No, not to me. I was the one exhausted today. Really, Professor, all those vines. It was so much work! I practically collapsed on the bed. If Mary Ann..."
Ginger stopped in mid sentence because she didn't really want anyone to know that she had once again allowed Mary Ann to fulfill her responsibilities. It wasn't necessarily that she didn't want to do the work, it was just so hard. If it weren't so hard, she'd do it.
The Professor figured it out quickly enough, he did have 6 degrees after all. "If Mary Ann...what? If Mary Ann hadn't taken over?" Her face told him he was right and he sighed and then said, "Mary Ann doesn't need to be doing the work of 4 people here, Ginger. I know its hot and its rough, but we've all got to work together here, ok? Tomorrow you go out collecting and Mary Ann does what I need her to do."
At about that time Gilligan came up and said, "Hey Ginger...you ready to go beat the Howells at cards?"
She smiled at Gilligan before looking back at the Professor and told him, "Ok, ok, I know. I'll work harder tomorrow."
The Professor nodded and then went out looking for Mary Ann.
They almost ran into each other. He was gazing at the stars for a moment and her head was down winding vine around her hand. Instead of hitting each other they both just jumped back startled.
"Oh Professor you scared me." She said as she put her hand to her chest. She dropped the vine and bent over to pick it up.
As she did, he knelt down to help and his hand lightly brushed over hers and the two just stopped and held there for a second. She moved first and kept pulling the vines up and he assisted her. He had noticed she trembled but thought perhaps that it was because she was cold although it was never really cold on the island. The only other explanation was that she felt nervous with him holding her hand or expectant. He wasn't sure how he felt about it if she were expectant.
She thanked him and then asked, "Where are you headed? The lagoon?" She still felt jumpy for some reason.
He answered, "No, just out looking for you. I was worried."
Mary Ann felt taken back a bit and asked, "Worried? Why were you worried?"
He took the vine from her hand and said, "You almost passed out twice today. I'm worried you're working yourself to death. I know you didn't rest as much today as you probably needed to so I'm ordering you to bed rest for the next two days."
Mary Ann shook her head as she walked past him, "Oh no, two days? Are you kidding? How is anyone going to eat around here? And the laundry? I barely keep up as it is, I can't handle two more days worth. I can't..."
He turned her around to face him and said, "Do you want to get so sick that we have to keep you in bed two weeks? Mary Ann, I told you this, this morning, the human body can only take so much. I'm going to use those vines to tie you in bed if you don't go voluntarily, understand? I'm serious!" The last two comments he made, he caught himself raising his voice.
Mary Ann was stunned and thought perhaps she had angered him so she shyly replied, "Ok, ok...I'll rest tomorrow."
The Professor closed his eyes for a second. The last thing he wanted to do was yell at her so he put his arm around her and started leading her back to the camp. "I just want you to slow down and take care of yourself. And no, I can't imagine us surviving long without you. Can you imagine us having to live off of whatever Ginger tried to cook?"
They both laughed for a second and he apologized for raising his voice when he left her at her hut. When he got back to his, he changed quickly and got in his bunk. For some reason he wasn't feeling well himself. He decided he would go out and bathe in the morning before everyone woke up, he just wanted to sleep right then.
He woke up feeling like he had just washed up on shore. There were no words to describe how miserable he felt as the light shone through his window. He did hear a rapping at the door and shouted out as best he could, "Come in!"
Mary Ann entered and said, "Professor, you're missing breakfast, I..."
He noticed the shocked look on her face and asked, "What? What's wrong?" He tried sitting up but his head was throbbing.
She rushed over and put her hand on his head, "Shhh, just lay back down," she told him. He could do little as he laid there watching Mary Ann carefully rummage through his table with his experiments to find what passed as their thermometer. "Here just let me take your temperature." Her words were so soothing and instead of objecting he found himself accepting her help. She stroked his forehead and then asked him, "Do you have any pain, anywhere? Your throat? Your chest?"
He shook his head to each question and when she pulled out the device he asked, "Well? Do I?"
She nodded her head and said, "Its well over 103." She then looked him up and down and noticed something, a stain on his shirt around his waist. "What's this?"
He pulled up the shirt, curious himself and found a red, puss filled sore. Deducting as he did best he answered, "It would appear I have a cut or scratch that has become infected and that infection strengthened overnight." He swallowed hard and then collapsed back on the bed unconscious.
The next thing he knew it was two days later and he was feeling better. All he really recalled was some angel voice reading to him and soft hands stroking his forehead. He started to sit up when Ginger came in, "No, no, no...Mary Ann made it clear to me that my job is to keep you in bed and resting." She ran her hands lightly over his chest.
The Professor started to shake his head and asked, "What day is it? We don't have that long until monsoon season starts and we have a lot of work to do."
Ginger told him, "Shhhh, don't worry about that. Mary Ann took on your job of scouting the island and the Skipper and Gilligan are still catching fish." She kept at it with the seductive display, but the Professor wasn't interested.
So he asked her almost hoping her answer wasn't herself, "So who is doing the cooking?"
She smiled and said, "Well, Mary Ann made a double portion of stew last night so we have leftovers and some more fruit she gathered last night so we should be ok. Nothing for you to worry about, really."
"What about the vines, who is collecting the vines?" he swallowed again and asked.
At that point Mary Ann came in with a bowl and a coconut cup. "Thanks Ginger, but I'll take it from here. Go tell the others that lunch is ready." Ginger quickly left and the Professor started to sit up. "I see you're more awake today...that's good." She put the cup down and then started to lift up his shirt.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he noticed the bowl had some sort of green mash in it that smelt funny.
She told him, "Just stay still. I took that book of yours over there and made this antibiotic paste to put in your wound. The infection is mostly gone now, but I think you need at least one more treatment."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You made an antibiotic paste?"
She smiled and said, "Why yes, it wasn't that hard. Not much different than reading a recipe."
He started to say something, but her simple logic caught him off guard. He wanted to come up with a list of reasons as to why he was the only one who should be engaging such activity, but he couldn't think of a single reason.
Mary Ann pulled back his shirt and the bandage she had created and applied the ointment. It stung, but he had to admit, the wound was almost healed. She finished and then brought the cup up to his mouth. It contained a pineapple juice/mint concoction that made him feel warm on the inside. "There," she said, "the juice has vitamin C, correct, that will also help you beat this infection. Just rest for the rest of the day and don't worry about the preparations. We are handling everything." He started to ask for details on that she when she leaned over and kissed his forehead then smiled and left.