Roy Hinkley's mind was racing as he walked away from Mary Ann, to go to the rise of rocks at the end of the lagoon.
DAMN! he thought, ashamed at the outburst in his own mind. If he wasn't so shy around women, he would've taken the chance to kiss her, while he could. But NOOOOO, he'd convinced himself he was doing it all almost as if he were a doctor, and she a patient.
Well, there'll be other chances, he thought reasonably once more. We are stuck on this island, after all.
"Yeah, but will I take it?" he asked himself out loud.
He spent the next couple of hours up there, fiddling with things, basically wasting time. He looked toward Mary Ann and smiled when he saw her walking in the shallows, bent over and looking for shellfish.
Good, she's up and about again, he thought. That poultice did the trick.
He looked into the sky, getting an idea of the time.
"Mary Ann!" he called to her.
She looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun behind him.
"When's breakfast?" he demanded, ending it with a laugh to show her he was joking.
"Oh, YOU!" she laughed, returning to her shellfish hunting.
He smiled, delighted as always to hear her laugh and see the smile sweep across her face. He'd only been partly kidding, and began to climb down the rocks to her. As he approached the waterline, his bare foot caught on a jutting rock and it was his turn to take a dive, literally, into the water.
"YIKES!" he screamed, just in time for Mary Ann to look up in alarm to see him take a header into the water. Fortunately, it was deep enough there, so she knew he'd be okay.
When he spluttered and reached the surface, Mary Ann was already doubled over, holding her gut and laughing her head off. She pointed limply at him when she saw he was glaring at her, and went into another wave of laughter.
She was so busy enjoying the image in her mind of him tumbling over, that she failed to realize he was sneaking up on her, paddling very slowly so he didn't disturb her laughing fit.
"WHOA!" she squealed as a double-handful of water swept across her, from the right. She turned in time to see the Professor stand up completely from the water, grinning down at her.
He stood so close to her that the water dripping off him landed on her shoulder, and neither of them moved.
Mary Ann could've sworn the entire globe had paused then, stopped dead in its eternal orbit about the sun. Time stood still. Neither could move, neither could breathe.
This is it, Roy, he told himself. You missed your chance earlier, DO IT, dammit! She's standing there, not moving, waiting for you to take her chin, turn her head toward you and kiss those lips, that mouth.
He reached one big hand up, to rest on her upper back. His touch released her from the hold he had on her, and Mary Ann instinctively angled herself toward him, moving her mouth closer to him, centimeter by centimeter.
Roy moved his hand to the base of her neck, and her soft hair brushed teasingly across him. He was going to do it, this was it...
"PROFESSOR! MARY ANN! There you are! The Skipper sent me to find you! What're you doing in the water? Isn't it cold? Why're you all WET, Professor?"
Gilligan's string of questions broke the spell, and the two moved quickly apart, both walking back to the sandy shore and Gilligan.
Mary Ann didn't just walk, she stomped. She went to the little bench she'd used, threw dirt on the fire, gathered up what she could of her herbs, flowers and shellfish, and marched past Gilligan.
The glare she gave him would've sliced any normal person to ribbons, but Gilligan wasn't a normal person. He was utterly clueless as to what he'd interrupted.
He was puzzled, though, when he received a similar look from the Professor as he, too, stalked by, almost in Mary Ann's footsteps.
Hmmmm, something's not right, a thought finally broke through in his head. What were they...?
Then the light shone through, and Gilligan got it.
They had been so close, his hand on her upper back, she was turning toward him... They were about to KISS, Gilligan thought happily. WOW, wait'll I tell the Skipper!
He turned to run back to the compound, and slowly came to a stop. Should he tell the Skipper? Should he tell ANYone? They were all convinced he could not keep a secret. He knew he could. He liked both the Professor and Mary Ann, and thought they'd be good for one another. They were always so busy, working so the seven of them could survive. They needed each other.
Nope, he wasn't going to say a word. Some day, when it finally came out, he'd tell them then, that he'd known all along and hadn't whispered a thing.
One thing he COULD do, however, was contrive a way so the two could be alone. Again. He was pondering several scenarios as he slowly walked back to the huts, where he was sure Mary Ann would already be preparing their breakfasts.