Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 406: Female Role Models

October 2028

Keeley stared at the email in front of her in utter shock. While waiting to hear back about her proposal to begin human trials she had been helping Erica with her research on gene therapy and blindness. She checked her work email account on a whim while waiting for the centrifuge to finish running and now…

"Yes!" she shrieked, jumping up and down as she broke out of her daze.

Not only had she been approved, more than three dozen people had already signed up to participate in the clinical trials. She had expected less than ten; this was completely insane!

"Let me guess, you got approved," Erica said with a smile.

"Thirty-nine people signed up, Erica! Thirty. Nine. For the very first clinical trial! When Mason started his clinical trials on humans last year he only got eight volunteers in the first trial. Once that succeeded, he got about twenty. Why on earth did so many people sign up right away?"

"Probably because of that article about you that came out on the Association for Women in Science website last year. It mentioned all the success you had so far and that you had just finished the monkey trials," she pointed out.

Erica was probably right. Keeley had gotten a lot of attention from that article. She had shared her brother's story when the interviewer asked her about her commitment to cystic fibrosis research. The interview had actually teared up listening to her.

Especially when she asked how Keeley handled the work/life balance and asked about her children. The interviewer nearly bawled when she found out she named her oldest son after her deceased brother. Was that really something to cry over?

As awkward as it had been being interviewed—she hadn't dealt with anything like that since being outed as Aaron's wife all those years ago—Keeley was glad she did it. Science had long been a field dominated by men and little girls interested in the field needed more female role models.

The first time a teenage girl recognized her on the street and asked for her autograph had been both confusing and gratifying. The girl's mother had been terribly apologetic, not knowing why her daughter was asking such a thing of a stranger on the street.

"Even if she is an actress you like, you can't just bother people like that Veronica! I'm so sorry."

"Mom, she's not an actress! This is Doctor Keeley Hale, the featured scientist on the AWIS website from last month." Veronica's eyes shone excitedly. "Did you really get your PhD when you were only twenty-five? Your research is amazing!"

"Thank you," Keeley said, startled by the praise. "I did."

Veronica turned to her mom excitedly. "See? I told you! She was pregnant too and still finished strong. Doctor Hale, you're the coolest! I want to be a geneticist just like you!"

That entire experience still made Keeley smile when she thought about it. That girl had been so earnest. When she told Aaron about it he laughed and said, "See? I'll be known as nothing more than Doctor Keeley Hale's husband in no time."

As much as she appreciated keeping a low profile, she infinitely preferred being recognized for her own accomplishments rather than simply for being Aaron Hale's wife. Veronica was the first but she wasn't the last.

Keeley actually had fan pages, mostly made up of teenage girls, on multiple social media sites. Her follower count on Instagram rose exponentially after that interview too.

"I think you're right," she told Erica.

Immediately she began scrambling around trying to figure out where to start. There was so much she needed to do!

First of all, she needed to set up meetings with each of the clinical trial participants. They had to sign waivers acknowledging any potential side effects and she had to explain the process to them. On top of that, she needed complete medical backgrounds and blood samples from each one.

"If you'll excuse me, I have thirty-nine phone calls to make," Keeley said before stepping out to find a secluded place to call.

Actually, she had forty. She needed to call Aaron first to tell him the good news. This wasn't the sort of thing that could be shared over text.

She called him but it went straight to voicemail. He was probably in a meeting. She didn't see the point in leaving a message since she knew he would call her back the moment he saw she had called.

Instead, she turned to her list of volunteers' names and began calling them one by one to set up consultation appointments. She made it through four calls before Aaron got back to her.

"Sorry sweetheart, I was meeting with a potential investor. What's up?"

Keeley figured it would be something like that. If it were with one of his subordinates he would have answered anyway. He had done it before.

"Thirty-nine people signed up for my first clinical trial! I broke the DOMA record!" she said gleefully, unable to stop herself from bouncing up and down. She got more excited the more she thought about it.

Aaron was definitely smiling; she could tell. "That's amazing! We definitely have to celebrate tonight. Where do you want to go?"

"Could we go to that teppanyaki place I like? I'm in the mood to watch people play with fire. I'll see if my dad is free too. He'll be thrilled."

Keeley chuckled as she thought of his reaction. Robert Hall had been very, very proud of his daughter throughout the entire research process. Now that she was this close to actually curing someone he might burst from pride.

"Sounds good to me. I'll make a reservation at six for seven people just in case."

"Awesome. I better go; I have thirty-five more phone calls to make. I just wanted to tell you the good news," she admitted.

"I'm glad you did. I'm so proud of you, Keeley. You're so close to achieving your dream!" Aaron said with obvious affection in his voice.

No matter how many times she heard that loving tone it always got to her. The warm and fuzzy feeling inside of her intensified. He really was such a wonderful, supportive husband. Nobody cared about her research more than Aaron did.

"Thanks, honey. I'll see you after work, alright? Love you."

"Love you too."

The call disconnected and Keeley smiled to herself. Right now she felt like the luckiest person in the whole world. She really hoped nothing went too terribly wrong with the clinical trials.

She knew her research was solid but different people reacted differently to the same treatment. Side effects were her biggest concern at this point. Unless they were able to be controlled, her treatment would never be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a viable cure.