6

Making the Professor happy, she claimed she was headed to bed early as he had suggested to everyone. She found it difficult to lay still for that long and was beginning to feel the effects of the last set of beans she had eaten earlier, the 7 wear off. If she wasn't careful she would fall asleep and wake up hours later. She was thirsty though, so incredibly thirsty so she got up and went to the center of camp and took the pitcher and finished it off. Then she drank an entire pot of water that she had filled for them in the morning.

She felt worse and worse so now she thought was the time to eat the 10 coffee beans. Mary Ann expected a strong burst of energy, and that was what she got. Only this time it only lasted for about 1 hour.

Mary Ann felt like she wasn't sure she would make it back to camp after returning from the cave. She had never felt like this before. Her muscles were in a world of pain she had never experienced. 'This couldn't be happening' she thought to herself. They were leaving for the cave in the morning, she couldn't get sick now.

She finally reached the table and pulled herself up to it. Her heart was pounding in her ears and fast. She was shaking all over and sweating. Then she started crying and she didn't even know why. Everything was spinning.

The Professor, probably because he had gone to sleep so early woke up. Thirsty himself he decided to go out to the table and drink from the pitcher which he knew was filled. Initially seeing Mary Ann there didn't set off any alarms for him. He just figured she was probably thirsty too.

"Thirsty?" he asked her as he started to hand the pitcher to her. She looked up at him and he almost started to panic. "Mary Ann...Mary Ann...what's wrong?" He dropped the pitcher and brushed the matted hair from her face and saw her almost staring into space.

She didn't seem to be able to respond at first, "I...I...don't feel so good." She closed her eyes. Panic setting in but knowing he needed to stay calm in order to take care of her he felt her head, it didn't seem hot. However, she seemed to be shivering so he felt her wrist for her pulse and it was racing.

Her head started to fall over on the table and her hand dropped. When it did some of the extra beans she had collected fell out of it. The Professor's eyes widened when he saw them and thought to himself, 'Oh no, no...Mary Ann'.

At just that point she fell completely over and while he had felt her heart race just seconds ago, now he felt nothing and she wasn't breathing.

"Mary Ann!" he said and his scientific mind caught him quickly enough to begin CPR. He breathed into her and then pushed on her chest to get her heart pumping again. He was on the verge of tears and couldn't bear to think about losing her. The first castaway to go...and so young...no, and not her... All these emotions, he wasn't all that familiar with, but he knew he had to keep them at bay for now and concentrate.

Three more rounds of CPR and he checked again. She was breathing finally and he caught her faint heart beat by checking for her pulse again. He never thought he had ever exhaled the way he just did upon feeling her come back to him again. He carefully picked her up and carried her to his cot where he could keep a close eye on her. He had no idea how much damage had been done or how long she had been eating those toxic beans, the ones that gave off a euphoric feeling, but were lethal.

Thinking quickly, he modified his seismometer to detect her heartbeat. He had it attached to her chest. His other concern were the nightmares he knew would come and what effect that would have on her heart. Those beans gave one a burst of energy but also played havoc with emotions causing intense nightmares.

He silently wondered to himself if she had slept all that much since she was taking them or if she had eaten. As he thought back, these beans explained much of her behavior, but he closed his eyes as it hit him that the symptoms existed for weeks now.

Not really knowing what to do outside of waiting and feeling completely helpless, he laid down beside her. He closed his eyes and said to himself, 'If there is nothing I can do to save you...I promise you Mary Ann...you won't go through any of this alone.' Tears started making their way down his cheeks as he held her, hoping that his arms around her brought her comfort.

He slept little that night and while there were times she began to stir, he knew the best thing for her was sleep and water, lots of it to dilute the beans. Each time she seemed agitated and her heart rate climbed, he had to fight the urge to panic. Instead he smoothed back her hair, stroked her cheeks and told her she wasn't alone as he whispered in her ear. He was right there and wasn't leaving her. She was safe with him, he kept whispering over and over.

The next morning the Skipper and Gilligan went looking for the Professor. He had made it clear that everyone was to meet at the table in the morning early to prepare to leave for the next week.

The Professor slowly extracted himself from her and checked the record of her heart rate and found only one or two irregularities. He walked back over to her and kissed her forehead, the way she had his when he was sick, and quietly walked out of the hut to tell the others. He needed to stay with her. The storm wasn't set to land for another couple of days so he planned to keep her in the hut and not move her until absolutely necessary. Moving her too quickly was a bad idea. She needed as long as was possible laying on that bed.

The Skipper and Gilligan came up to him and Gilligan said, "What's going on Professor? I thought you said we needed to leave early? You don't look ready."

The Skipper caught that something was wrong by the look on the Professor's face, especially when he said, "We need to have a meeting with everyone. Gilligan, go gather everyone." He pulled the Skipper aside and told him before asking him to stay and watch the seismometer and come quickly to get him if it stopped. Then he turned and walked over to the rest.

He told them everything he knew and what he was speculating on. The other castaways were devastated. They had no idea that Mary Ann could have turned to something akin to a drug to make up for the work they were failing to do.

"Professor..." Mrs. Howell tried to ask between her sobs, "so what is this horrid bean doing to our Mary Ann?"

The Professor took a deep breath and explained, "The bean she ate causes one to feel as though they have no limits. In my research on chemicals that affect the circulatory system I read about the properties in this bean. It weakens muscles, but most specifically, the heart. Mary Ann essentially had a heart attack last night and I have no way of knowing how much damage was done. It also affects the brain and emotions."

Gasps came from all 4 castaways along with some tears. Mr. Howell who was holding his wife asked, "What can be done? There has to be something that can be done?"

The Professor told them, "She needs to stay here as long as we can safely stay. She needs rest and as soon as she regains consciousness, she needs water. So I think you should go ahead and leave me here with Mary Ann along with an ample supply of water. The latest reports have the hurricane out about 250 miles and not moving very fast, so I will need you to keep up with the coordinates, and the Skipper will come back for us when we need to evacuate."

They all shook the Professor's hand and went in one at a time, quietly to tell Mary Ann to hang on and how much she means to them.

The Skipper pulled the Professor aside and said, "I just can't believe it! I can't believe she would take something like that...a drug..."

The Professor shook his head and explained his theory, "Skipper, I doubt Mary Ann realized it had those properties. I think she found the bush and assumed they were coffee beans. They look and even smell a bit like coffee. I'm sure they gave her a burst of energy each time she ate one. I'm also convinced now that she single handedly carried all those supplies up to the cave."

The Skipper looked confused, "The supplies...but how? It was hard enough for me to get them up there, how would she..."

The Professor answered, "The beans suppress the part of the brain that registers pain. Skipper when you or I lift something that is too heavy, our brain tells us by registering the pain we feel in our arms. In Mary Ann's case here, her brain would not register the pain. Therefore she would not sense it and think that she had the muscular ability to lift these heavy boxes." He sighed, "That also means damage has been done most likely to her arm and leg muscles."

As he looked down the Skipper patted his back. Gilligan then came to the two as he emerged from the hut, "She's gonna be ok, right Professor?"

The Professor and Skipper looked at each other and the Skipper caught that the answer might actually be no. So he took Gilligan by the arm and led him back to the others. "We need to get going little buddy. You know the Professor is going to do everything he can to make sure she's alright."