Dr. Mark Bejarano inserted the blood slide into the microscope and looked through the eye piece, adjusting it slightly to get a clearer image.

He sighed. Definitely leukemia. Still, she'd be perfect for the study, that was something.

Mark felt a sudden wetness down the back of his neck and wiped at it with his hand. Water. The ceiling was sagging with the damp. It dribbled down the wall beside him and was pooling on the floor. He sighed. What a dump. They'd only been renting the lab for two months and already it was falling apart.

He'd already called the plumber but god knows when they would get there and it had gotten so much worse since he came in to work an hour ago.

After grabbing a small pocket knife, Mark pulled a chair to the side of the room and climbed atop it. He reached for the stained ceiling and sliced away a section in the middle, only to flinch when a sudden torrent of water doused him. He shook off his hands and reached into the still trickling hole.

A pipe had come out of place. Nothing he could do without turning the water off. He'd have to get a bucket first. He swore and wiped sopping hair away from his forehead.

He stepped off and let gravity pull him down but his foot hit the floor and carried on, slipping out from under him. He dropped his knife and grabbed for the chair back but missed, arms flying to stop his fall, and hit the damaged wall full force.

Head throbbing from the impact, it took him a few seconds to realize his fist had gone through.

That was just perfect. Mark gently pulled his arm free of the hole, cradling his blooded hand. Blood, cuts, but it didn't feel like he'd broken anything. Not bone, anyway. He looked at the wall and cringed.

He poked at the hole with his uninjured hand and brought his head down so it was at eye level.

Dr. Bejarano saw empty eye sockets staring back at him and gasped.