"AHHH!" Anna screamed as she nearly jumped out of her seat. She looked up, breathing heavily, face flashing bright red in embarrassment as another student picked up a book that she just dropped, looking at Anna as if she had lost her mind. Perhaps she had. "S-sorry...I'm just jittery." She explained with a nervous chuckle. The other student rolled her eyes and walked away. This wasn't unusual for Anna Jensen. It's why she's here today, waiting outside of Dr. Nathan Phillip's office. She's been struggling with anxiety for at least six months. Her grades have suffered, and she struggled to remember her last good night's sleep. And worse, the doctors tell her that everything is fine. "You just need relaxation, a good diet, exercise, and sleep." Well, she tried all of that. And nothing works. And now she's anxious because she's anxious, creating a vicious feedback loop.
Her sneaker-clad foot nervously taps the tile floor, until finally the door opens. She's greeted by a handsome, early 40's professor. Dr. Phillips. He speaks English with an American accent, and Anna wonders, briefly, how he ended up here in Denmark. She's dressed like a typical Dane, which is to say weirdly conservatively and bland despite the generally liberal and carefree attitude toward sex and sexuality. Jeans and a loose, white sweater. You get the sense that she might have a nice body under there, but she's certainly not quick to reveal it. At least not out in everyday life. Her naturally blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and blue eyes are framed with black rimmed glasses.
They shake his hands as he welcomes her into his office. She has to strain her neck upward to meet his eyes. Anna's short 5'2" stature is about the only thing that separates her from a "typical Scandinavian." Otherwise, all the usual: pale skin, soft features, curvy in all the right places. He's about a full foot taller, but otherwise has a calm demeanor, and a kind smile. He might be imposing in the right--or wrong--circumstances, but not here in this environment. She immediately feels calm and safe in his presence. Or maybe Anna is just relieved at the prospect of finally being free of this crippling anxiety. The office is typical for a professor, even a well respected one like Dr. Phillips: overflowing bookshelves, loose papers strewn across the desk, mismatched furniture which would look ridiculously out of place in any other environment.
"Please sit down and make yourself comfortable, Anna" he says calmly, pointing to a chair in front of the desk as he moves around it to the otherside. He pulls out her file, giving it a once over, and then asks the question with the most obvious answer, "So...you're suffering from anxiety?"
"Yes," she laughed nervously, "I...I wouldn't be here otherwise..." Anna trailed off, and then asked the question that's been bothering her since she first found out about the trial, "Is...is the drug...safe?"
Now it's his turn to let out a chuckle, "Listen, if you knew the amount of paperwork, permits, animal testing, etc that went into this..." he trailed off chuckling and gesturing, "...well...let's just say, I had to convince a lot of people that it's safe for human use before even beginning to think about human trials."
She breathed a sigh of relief, nodding.
"These are perfectly reasonable questions, I assure you." he continued, "No need to be timid. Lots of participants are first timers... we have had wonderful success in rodents with no side effects that we can tell. The animals all showed complete reversal of their anxiety and that's all."
"...but I'm...um...the first human then?" she crosses her arms over her chest, legs also crossed, subconsciously trying to protect herself.
"You are...you will have a chance to make history, yes. However, we have gotten all the appropriate medical clearness so there is no huge risk safety-wise," he says confidently, maintaining eye contact and that same disarming smile.
She nods slowly, taking it all in. It helps that this is through the university, 'it's not like he's just some crazy rando off the streets' she tells herself. "OK...so...what's the procedure? Is it...a pill? Injection?..."
He sits back in my chair with a smile, seeing that Anna is at least somewhat satisfied with his answer, "Well we hope to one day make it available in pill form but for the trial it will be an injection, I hope that is not too scary? The needles are extremely thin and small" Dr. Phillips pulls a small, thin syringe from his desk, "See?"
Anna shudders a little. No one likes injections, but she's always been especially uneasy about them. However, she's come this far..."N-now? I mean, just like that?"
"Well I have no desire to rush you. You are more than welcome to have the injection now but you can also wait until you are ready. However, I will warn you we have quite a few interested participants and the study will fill up quickly I suspect."
It wasn't quite a threat, but the message was clear: take part in this trial or stop wasting his time. She didn't want to miss out on this opportunity to get over this anxiety, so she agreed with a soft, "OK."
