Chapter 1 - The Drug Trial

SUNDAY

My boxers.  Fold.  Her panties.  Fold.  My t-shirt. Fold.  More panties. Inside-out.  Fold.  Her bra.  Hang up.  Sports bra.  Fold.  More boxers.  Fold.

I placed all of the folded laundry into the basket and returned to our bedroom where I proceeded to put everything in dresser drawers.

“Done.”  I said.  Walking back into the living room.  I collapsed on the couch and grabbed the TV remote.  I started scanning Netflix for something to watch.  I feel like I’ve seen every series here.  I can always watch something again.  I don’t think I have time for a full movie before Kathy returns home.

My name is Aaron.  I’m 36.  Unemployed.  I live with my girlfriend Kathy, and our dog Speckles.  I’ve been out of work for a while now.  Before the pandemic I was bouncing around various temp jobs.  Once COVID19 happened, all of the job vacancies had dried up, so now I spend my days doing various household chores, and reviewing streaming TV shows for my blog.

Today was a typical Sunday for us.  I was home.  Kathy was working.  She’s been trying to put in as much time at work she can.  Money’s been tight.  I had just gotten done doing our laundry, and decided it was time to relax before dinner.

I was getting frustrated at not finding something to watch.  I put down the remote.  Speckles came up to me and nuzzled my hand.  It must be 5 o’clock.

“Time to eat?” I asked Speckles.  

Speckles started running around in circles to acknowledge the word “eat.”

I got up and walked to the kitchen and Speckles followed me.  I opened up the cabinet to pull out a can of dog food.  That cabinet was empty.  “Sorry girl, we’ll have to go shopping later.”

I got some dry kibble and scooped them into her dish.  She sat down and whined.

“Yeah I know you want something different.”  I opened the fridge and pulled out a hot dog. I broke it up and threw it on top of the kibble.  Speckles immediately started eating the hot dog, ignoring the dry food.

I returned to the couch and pulled out my cell phone to browse social media.

Just then, Kathy walked through the front door visibly upset.

“What’s wrong babe?” I asked my girlfriend.

Kathy put her bag down and sat down on the couch next to me.  “Work cut my hours.” she said.  “The company doesn’t have enough customers right now so they’re reducing the workforce.  I’m only working 3 days a week now.”

“I’m so sorry.” I said, trying to comfort her.

She shrugged it off.  “Aaron” she said, looking at me.  She sighed.  “You’re going to need to find a job too.”  

“I’ve been trying.” I said, in a defensive tone. “No one is hiring.”  Honestly, I haven’t tried in a few months.  Most of the temp places I’ve applied to were not open to in-person work.  “None of the jobs pay nearly enough.”

“You’re not trying hard enough.  The Grocery store is hiring!”

“I’m NOT working for minimum wage at a grocery store!”

“Aaron.” she said.  “We’re running out of money.  We’re broke.  My savings account is almost gone.  We can’t live like this anymore.” 

I was stunned.  This is the first time I heard that she was dipping into her savings.

“You’ve been using your savings to support us?”

“Yes.” she said, exasperated.  “I didn’t want to tell you. I love you, and I didn’t want us to break up because of finances.”

“You were thinking of breaking up?”

“No.  Yes.  I mean, We can’t keep living like this.”

I put my head in my hands.  I can’t let Kathy walk out of my life.  I’d have nothing.  Time to man-up.

“OK.” I said.  “I’ll try to apply to the grocery story.  I’ll do it first thing in the morning”

“Thank you.” she said.  I noticed her eyes were watery.  Was she about to break up with me if I didn’t try to get a job?

We kept our distance for the rest of the evening.  I realized I needed to fix this.  Our relationship was hanging on by a thread.  

* * *

MONDAY

First thing in the morning I awoke, showered and got dressed.  I put on a button down shirt and a pair of nice jeans.  I let the dog out.  As I was eating some cereal, Kathy came out to join me, already dressed for work.  We ate our breakfast in silence.

She turned to me.  “What’s your plans today?”

“I’m heading over to the grocery store to see if I can apply for a job.” I replied.

“If you’re going to the store.” she said.  “Can you pick up a few things?” She got up and handed me the shopping list from the fridge.  

“Sure.” I said taking the list. There wasn’t much on it. “How about you?”

“Today’s a working day.” She said.  “Thank God.  We’ll have to ration my next paycheck because future ones will be smaller.”

I had a sympathetic smile.   I got up from my seat and put my cereal bowl in the sink.  “I’m heading out now.  Maybe I can start today!  Hopefully.”

“Good luck.” she said.

I opened the front door.  “Love you” I said before walking outside.

“Love you too.” she answered.

OK, Aaron.  I can’t come home without a job.  This is important.  Kathy will certainly leave me if I come home unemployed.

I climbed into my car.  The gas tank was almost empty.  I pulled up my bank account on my phone to check my balance.  Only $20?  I sighed. 

I drove to the gas station and put only $5 in my tank.  This should be good enough for driving around town today.

* * *

I drove to the grocery store.  I grabbed a disposable mask from the passenger seat and walked into the store.  I eyed the customer service area.  I suddenly got nervous.  I wasn’t ready for this.

I did my shopping first.  Frozen pizzas, dog food, cereal.  I remembered I only had $15 in my bank account so I had to be very frugal here.  I looked at the price of everything.  Everything was so expensive.  I settled on 1 pizza and 2 cans of dog food.  I’ll have to come back when I get paid.  

I paid for the groceries and put them into the car before returning into the store. I took a deep breath and walked straight to customer service.  

After about 5 minutes, a female employee came to the customer service counter.  

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“I was hoping for a job application.” I said.

“One moment.” she said walking into the back through a door.  She came back with a paper and pen.  “Fill this out, and you can give it back to me.  The manager on duty will be by shortly.”

“Great.”  I said, taking the paper and pen.

I started filling out the job application.  Name, address, previous employment, school, etc.  When I was done, I put the application back on the counter.

While I was waiting for someone to take my application, I started pacing the front of the store looking at various things.  The ice machine, the lottery machines, the newspaper rack. Then I saw a bulletin board with a whole bunch of flyers.

I noticed a flyer with big block letters that said “$600 CASH”  I read the flyer.  “Looking for people to participate in COVID Vaccine clinical trials.”

$600?  We could certainly use that.  I pulled off a tear-off tab that had the phone number on it and put it in my pocket.  Plus I would be doing society a favor.  A win for everyone!

A few minutes later a guy about my age appeared.  He appeared to be the manager, dressed in a corporate polo shirt.  “Are you ready for an interview today?”  he asked.

“Yes”  I said.

“Follow me.” he said, opening a door for me to walk through.  We walked up the stairs to what appeared to be an employees-only section of the store.  He led me to a small conference room and closed the door behind us.

He scanned my job application.  

“We have an opening for a stocker.  If you can do that we can look into training you as a cashier.”

“Sure.”  I said.  “How much does it pay?”

“$12 an hour”

12 an hour?  The temp jobs I used to work paid much more than this.  I can’t believe I have to accept this.  You gotta take this Aaron.  For Kathy.  “And when can I start?”

“You can start tomorrow afternoon.” he said. “We have a number of open shifts this week we can fill.”

“That’s great.” I said straining to show excitement.

“Welcome to the team Aaron.” he said.  “This will have what you need to know.  What to wear on your first day, etc.”  He handed me an employee handbook.

I walked out of the grocery store depressed.  $12 an hour?  I did the math in my head. If I worked a full week, and a full week isn’t guaranteed, take out taxes and stuff, I’d be making under $500 a paycheck every 2 weeks.  Certainly not ideal.  Barely enough for rent.  But any amount will help.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the clinical trial flyer’s tear-off tab.  I can make $600 right now.

I returned to my car and pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number on the paper.

The voice message said they were open right now and were taking new participants.  I plugged the address into my phone and started to drive there.

* * *

I pulled up to an industrial complex.  It did not look like a medical complex at all.  I got a little nervous.  This is a little sketchy.  There were other cars in the parking lot, so maybe this wasn’t so bad.

I found the right office and went inside.  When I got to the waiting room, there was a long line in front of a receptionist window.  There was large banner over it that read “COVID19 Vaccine Trials”

Ug.  I don’t want to wait in this line.

I noticed a person at an empty counter.  I decided to see what that window was for.

“Hi” I said to the woman behind the plexi-glass barrier.  “What’s this window for?”

“This is for Trial 1350.” she said. “Are you here for this one?”

This must be a different Covid vaccine trial.  “How much did it pay again?” I asked.

“$2000”

$2000!  Hell yeah.  This beats the $600 for standing in that long line.

“Yes!  1350!  I’m here for this one” I said, confidently

She slid a clipboard under the plexi-glass.  “Fill this out, return it to me”

I filled out the form.  Same stuff again.  This time it asked me more personal questions.

Height: 6’

Weight: 200lbs

Hair: Light Brown

Eyes: Hazel.

Have you had a flu shot in 2020? No

Have you had COVID19?  No

Are you on HRT? No

Then a whole checklist of underlying medical history.  Heart disease, blood pressure, smoker.   I checked ‘No’ for almost everything.

I found an info sheet titled “Trial 1350”.  I scanned it.  Genetic markers?  Chromosome modification.  All of this stuff went over my head.  Why can’t they put this stuff in laymens’ terms?  Why can’t they just say, “Trying to find a vaccine for COVID19?” 

Then I came to the waiver.

“I agree to..”  Yawn.  Don’t care.  I hate legaleze.   “We don’t assume responsibility for…” Yeah yeah, I get it, don’t sue us.  

I signed the waiver and brought it back to the counter.

“You may sit down.” the receptionist said.  “Your name will be called shortly”

A few minutes later, A nurse poked her head through the door.  “Aaron?”

“That’s me.”  I said.  I looked at the long line.  Suckers.

I was escorted into an examination room.  I sat there for about 5 minutes staring at various wall decorations.  A painting.  A PhD degree.  Various artwork of atoms and DNA.

Just then a male doctor in his 40’s came into the room.  “Hi I’m Dr. Fry” he said.  “Thank you so much for volunteering for this trial.”

“No problem.”  I said.

“May I ask if you’re transgender?” he asked.

“What? No. I’m not Transgender.” That was a weird question. 

“Oh. OK.”  Dr. Fry said, looking a little disappointed and confused.  “I assume you’ve read up on what we’re doing here right?”

“Yes I did.”  Granted I skimmed it, but I didn’t understand it.  “It sounds very interesting.  Very good for society.” I was more interested in the $2000 they’re going to give me.

He picked up a long cotton swab.  “You can take your mask off and open up.  I need to swab the inside of your mouth.”

I took off my mask and opened up my mouth as he scraped the inside of my cheek with the swab.  He put that in a sealed container.  

“What’s that going to do?”  I asked.

“That- is going to tell me what you had for lunch.” He laughed.  He noticed I wasn’t laughing.  He cleared his throat.  “Sorry.  Doctor humor.  It will give me a baseline genetic profile.” He replied in a more serious tone.  “This way we can compare any changes.” He turned his back to me and started opening some packages.   “Are you afraid of needles?”

“Yes I am.”

“OK.  I need you to remove your shirt.”

I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off.  

Dr. Fry turned back around and took an alcohol swab and wiped up my upper arm.  “So some of our participants are getting the experimental drug.  Some are getting a placebo.  This is a blind study, so I don’t know which one this is”

I nodded.

“Did you notice my art work up there?”  he said.  “I painted it myself.”

I looked.  It was a picture of a beach.  “Yeah.  I suppose.  It’s nice-  Ow!”

He stabbed me in the arm with a needle while I was distracted.  He removed the needle and wiped away any residual blood.

“OK. All Done.” he said putting a small bandage on it.  “You can put your shirt and mask back on.  Your arm will likely hurt the rest of the day.  I need you to come back on Friday so we can check the progress.”

“Fine.” I said putting my shirt back on and starting to button it up. “I can do that.”  My arm hurt.  I rotated it to see if I could get it to stop hurting.

"Did you really paint that picture?" I asked.

"Hell no." he said.  "I'm a doctor, I can barely sign my own name legibly"  He laughed again. “Here’s my business card.  When you come in on Friday, come straight to the counter and ask for me.  You can pick up your check at the lobby.”

The doctor escorted me out of the room and to the lobby.  I walked back up to the window I submitted the clipboard to.  She handed me a check.  I examined it.  It was made out to me.  One Thousand Dollars. 

I turned to the lady at the counter.  “Only one thousand?”

“You get the other half when you return on Friday.” she said.

“Oh OK.” I said.  I still got $1000, so I considered this a win!

* * *

I was excited to have this much money.  First I stopped at the bank and deposited the check into my bank account.  I next stopped at the gas station and filled up the rest of my car’s tank.  Finally I returned to the grocery store where I picked up the rest of our shopping list that I couldn't afford this morning.

When I arrived home it was late afternoon. Kathy wasn’t home yet.  I decided to do my share of the chores around the house.

Around dinner time, Kathy came home and I greeted her at the door excited.  “Hey babe!” I said.

“Hey” she said.  “How was your interview?”

“I got the job!”  I said.  “And I got a signing bonus!   Let’s order out to dinner to celebrate!”

“That’s awesome!” she said smiling.  The first time I’ve seen her smile in a long while.  She gave me a hug and a kiss.

* * *

I did an online order for one of the local restaurants that UberEats was affiliated with.  I got a burger and Kathy got a caesar salad.  

After dinner I was feeling great!  The pain in my arm was gone.  I suddenly felt like I had a lot of energy.  I wonder what was in that drug.  

“Thank you for dinner.” Kathy said kissing me.  

Wow, the moment she came in for a kiss I suddenly got really turned on.  Like really turned on.  As if someone cranked up my libido.

I embraced her and continued kissing her.

“Wow, babe”  she said.  “Someone’s happy to see me.”

We didn’t even bother going to the bedroom as we made love right there on the couch.

After I came, Kathy was in a daze.  “That was great babe.  I know we both needed that!”

I was still out of breath.  But I smiled anyway.  I got up and discarded my condom into the trash and laid back down on the couch next to Kathy.

Kathy caressed my chest and rubbed against my penis again.  

And I instantly got hard again.

Kathy raised her head.  “Are you ready to go.. Again?   Wow.”

I smiled and started kissing her and she started stroking me.  I wrapped my arms around her and grabbed onto her back.

“Ow” she said.  “Your nails are digging into me.”

I looked at my nails.  They were definitely longer than I remember.  I may need to clip them later.  I was interrupted as Kathy pushed me down and sat on my lap as she played with my cock and then slid it into her.

The second orgasm was more intense.  This was great.  I never had this much stamina before.  I think I was ready for a 3rd round when Kathy fell asleep curled up around me.   I didn’t feel like waking her up. So I grabbed a blanket with my free arm and draped it over us.

Today was a great day.  I feel like I just saved my relationship.  I drifted off to sleep.