"This might pinch a little," she said.

He wasn't sure how he had agreed to all this. He had been talked into it a little too quickly. Was he trying to impress her? Was he trying to get her attention?

"That was a needle. I think you meant a prick or stick, Dr. Corlinn," he said.

She stopped and looked at him. She was breathtaking, but now she appeared very annoyed with him, and this was not the gaze of attention he had sought out from her.

"Dr. Hadish, I do know what I am doing," she said.

"Of course, Doctor. I didn't mean anything other than to make some small talk."

"That will not be an issue much longer."

Indeed, he did feel his mouth go numb. A shot in the arm was surprisingly making it hard to talk, almost as if he was at the dentist's and had just been given a shot in the gums.

"Aahh, thah mawy oher ehects?"

"What did you say, Dr Hadish? Are there any other side effects?"

He nodded.

"There are a few," she continued. I don't want it to sound like one of those ads the marketing people dream up—all fine print and speedy voice—but there are some."

He looked at her expectantly. His tongue was done.

"Oh, you want me to list them?"

He nodded.

"Your tongue might get sluggish."

He nodded. It felt like he had a shoe shoved in his mouth.

"Your skin might feel prickly."

His eyes went wide. He felt like he was on fire. Waves of heat rolled across his body like he was twirling in a rotisserie oven.

"Some report an odd sensation in their hair."

If his eyes could widen out further, they would have. Instead, they jumped out of their socket, slapped his face, and then jumped back in their sockets. Or so it seemed as he felt his hair, every hair from his head to his crotch, push out and grow from the inside like it was in some sped-up time-lapse movie. It couldn't possibly be happening, his taxed brain told him. It also told him he could just run. Not that it would help. But he just wanted to run.

"Here, sit down," she said. She guided him to the chair. "The sensations for the first moments can be pretty intense."

Pretty intense? His brain was screaming.

"But it usually wears off after those first moments. Usually in about ten minutes. Now, let me take a look at you."

He tried to act nonchalant as she approached, but his mind was a spinning amusement ride, and he just wanted to get off.