A few days after Eric's son nearly caught him jerking off with the 18 year old's boxers pressed against his face, Eric was at the clinic for his next check-in. As he filled out the usual paperwork, he noticed a younger guy heading out of a back room, clearly holding back tears. The sight made him ill at ease as he wondered what bad news had just been delivered.
Dr. Andrew's assistant called him back, and Eric tried to make a joke about "hoping things went better than they went for the guy a few minutes ago".
"What do you mean?"
"I saw a young man leaving the building, nearly in tears."
The assistant stopped as she made the connection: "Oh, you have nothing to worry about. That was Dr. Andrew's undergraduate research assistant. Unfortunately, Dr. Andrews had to let him go so that's probably why he was upset."
"Oh thank god it wasn't a patient getting bad news... sorry that was insensitive, just with my treatment and... anyways, why did Dr. Andrews fire him?"
"Well, our lab is doing truly novel work and it requires absolute attention to detail. Being an undergraduate research assistant is mostly organizing and deliveries, but there were just one too many slip-ups. Thankfully he did not interact with the patients."
"Oh yes, that would have been bad."
"I'll leave in the room up ahead. Dr. Andrews wants to do some physical measurements today so go ahead and get undressed and put on this robe, open at the back."
"Not exactly my color is it?" Eric laughed as he was handed the flimsy paper drape.
"Yes, not exactly ready for fashion week, but in our defense, we're scientists!"
Eric went in the room and took off his trousers, shirt, and underwear. He put on the robe and, while he wasn't sure whether they had sizes, it clearly was built more for an Amazon warrior or sumo wrestler than his petite frame.
He heard Dr. Andrews's deep voice talking to his assistant outside the door and the image of the handsome doctor filled Eric's mind. He took mental inventory of the man's thick, hairy forearms and bulging biceps under those tight-fitting scrubs. The chiseled jaw and perfect smile. Eric was startled out of his daydream with the opening of the door. Wait... another fantasy about the man?
"Sorry to startle you and really sorry about the delay. Had some administrative paperwork that took far longer than it should have."
Eric imagined it had to do with the firing of the undergrad and did not pry.
"No problem Dr. Andrews. Good to see you."
"You as well. We're now a month out from your injection, how are you feeling? Any changes you've noticed?"
"Yes and no. I mean there have been some things, unclear if they're related." Eric's mind flashed back to furiously jerking off with his son's dirty boxers on his face.
Dr. Andrews sat in his chair, file open, pen in hand.
"Well?"
"I mean it's kind of embarrassing to talk about... "
Dr. Andrews gave an unfairly handsome small smile. "I mean I am a doctor. And as we discussed in your intake, this is something that affects you on a deeply personal, cellular level. The more you share the better, not just for yourself, but for the science itself."
"Yes, you're right, you're right."
"So are we talking bed-wetting? Incontinence? Oh no... don't tell me you developed a terrible taste in movies? That would ruin the research and possibly end my career."
Eric laughed. "No, nothing that drastic, it's just there have been some things I have noticed... sexually."
Dr. Andrews perked up at hearing that. "Well that's fantastic news, this whole treatment is designed to help boost processing of testosterone, so sexual effects are a sign things are being integrated into your body."