When I'm on the night shift, all the department heads can't sleep.

Li Wencheng's wife loosened her grip on the payment slip for a moment, then immediately tightened it again.

"Doctor, should I also avoid taking that draining medication?"

When she asked the question, she didn't dare to look at Qin Hai; her eyes were fixed on the tracks left by the electrocardiograph machine's wheels on the ground.

The nephrologist on duty glanced back at her.

"That drug is called furosemide, which drains water and potassium at the same time. Your husband was taking digoxin while secretly taking this, so his potassium levels dropped, which increased the toxicity of the digoxin. His slow heart rate is related to this."

She opened her mouth slightly, but no words came out.

Two or three seconds later, the sound finally escaped from his throat.

"I really didn't know he was taking this. He just told me that his legs were swollen and he was taking two pills to reduce the swelling. I thought it was one of those health supplements."

The nephrologist on duty sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"We can't finish asking all these questions tonight. We need to investigate how long he's been taking it, whether he's taking any other medications with it. All you can do now is not to cover for him and answer the doctor's questions."

She didn't say anything more, and tried to put the payment slip into her pocket, but couldn't, so she clutched it back in her hand.

At this moment, Qin Hai patted the nurses' station counter. It wasn't a hard pat, just a gesture to get everyone's attention.

"Alright. We've done everything we could tonight. As for the furosemide case, the emergency room can't finish investigating it, so we'll have the cardiology outpatient department and community clinics continue the investigation."

He glanced at the cardiologist on duty.

"What about over there?"

The cardiologist on duty used a medical record folder to hold down the two electrocardiogram sheets placed side by side.

"Director Tang said to keep monitoring it. If the heart rate drops further, or if conduction block progresses to second degree, he'll stop treatment immediately. I'm not leaving tonight; I'll stay here and keep an eye on it."

Qin Hai then went to see the on-call nephrologist.

"You'll take the potassium and creatinine?"

"Please note the amount of urine as well. If it's less in the middle of the night, I'll come and check again."

Qin Hai nodded.

"Then the emergency department will stop here. The record is done, the areas that need to be sealed are sealed, and the rest is handled by the specialists."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and saw Lin Ye standing outside the nurses' station, a pen between his fingers and a notebook open.

"Have you finished writing?"

Lin Ye looked down at the page he had only half-written.

"The furosemide line has just been added; there are still a few time points to go."

"Then hurry up and finish it."

Lin Ye put his pen back on the paper and filled in the last few times: blood collection time, sample receipt time, blood drug concentration report time, time the family sent photos, and medicine bottle sealing time. He wrote each number clearly, line by line.

After writing the last line, he turned the page, preparing to sign his name in the signature column.

The pen had just touched the paper when a hand reached out from behind his shoulder.

Sun Zhiqiang.

I don't know when I ended up standing behind him.

"Give me."

Lin Ye looked up at him.

Sun Zhiqiang didn't offer much explanation. He took the notebook, scanned it from beginning to end, turned a page, and then turned back.

Then he picked up a pen and signed his name in the signature column at the bottom.

After signing, he pushed the book back in front of Lin Ye.

"Add a line below and write the recorder's name. Mine is signed by the reviewing physician."

Lin Ye looked at the two lines of text.

He didn't write immediately. The few red dots at the edge of his field of vision had gone out sometime ago.

Sun Zhiqiang's signature means that if there are any problems with this record, he will be the first person questioned. Lin Ye wrote it, but Sun Zhiqiang takes responsibility.

Lin Ye lowered his head and wrote below Sun Zhiqiang's name: Recorder, Lin Ye.

Sun Zhiqiang closed his notebook.

"Did both the cardiology and nephrology departments take over Li Wencheng's case?"

"I accepted it." Lin Ye nodded. "The medicine was sealed, the photos were taken, and we've pursued everyone we needed to."

"Okay. I won't touch the emergency room anymore."

Sun Zhiqiang glanced at the clock on the wall. 2:12.

The sound of chair legs scraping against the floor came from the triage desk.

Zhou Min bent down and picked up her bag from under the chair. The bag strap had been hanging on the back of the chair for who knows how long, leaving a deep dent.

Her phone screen was still lit. There were three missed calls, all from the same person: "Mom."

Nurse Zhao glanced at it as she passed by.

"How many times has your mom had sex?"

"Three." Zhou Min slung her bag over her shoulder, her voice as flat as if she were talking about someone else. "The first one was when Li Wencheng had just entered the red zone. The second one was when they were chasing after medicine bottles. I didn't hear the third one."

Nurse Zhao gently touched her arm with her thermos.

"Let's go back. We'll handle the rest."

Zhou Min stuffed the last triage review form into a folder on her desktop and pushed it to make sure it wouldn't fall out.

"The time for the follow-up troponin test for Meng Chi's bed is written on page three of the nursing handover log. The day shift will draw a sample at that time."

"Okay, let's go."

Zhou Min walked towards the lobby. The automatic doors sensed her and slid open with a whoosh. The cool night air rushed in, and a strand of hair at her collar was blown up.

After the door closed, only the monitor's beeping could be heard in the hall.

Nurse Zhao returned to the nurses' station, unscrewed the lid of her thermos, and took a sip.

Then his whole face scrunched up.

"It's cold. I don't even know when it got cold."

She took another sip, probably because she was really thirsty, and she didn't mind the cold temperature.

After finishing the drink, I put the lid back on and glanced over at the red zone.

Li Wencheng's heart rate on the monitor was 50. It was two beats higher than before.

It was quieter on Meng Chi's end. His girlfriend was asleep, leaning against a plastic chair at the foot of the bed, a charging cable dangling from the armrest, her phone screen dark. Meng Chi wasn't asleep; his eyes were fixed on the ceiling, his lips pressed tightly together.

Nurse Zhao glanced at his monitoring readings. Heart rate 76, blood pressure normal, blood oxygen 99. His troponin test wasn't due for a follow-up in over an hour.

She turned back to the nurses' station and saw Lin Ye still standing there.

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

Lin Ye put the notebook back on the shelf.

"Let me take another look."

"What are you looking at?" Nurse Zhao tapped his hand with her pen cap. "The cardiology team is watching over there, and I'm watching over here. What extra eye can you possibly grow by just standing here?"

Lin Ye opened his mouth slightly, but no words came out.

Nurse Zhao had already bent down and ticked off the nursing record.

"Go to the duty room. Close the door. Silent your phone. Come out when your alarm goes off at 6:30."

Without pausing, she added another sentence.

"If something's really wrong, you don't need to come out looking for me. I'll go kick the door down."

Lin Ye stood there for two seconds, then gave in.

He turned and walked towards the duty room.

As Qin Hai passed the corner of the nurses' station, he leaned back in his swivel chair, his neck tilted back, a half-empty glass of dried seaweed in front of him, the glass rim dripping with water. His voice had been hoarse all night, and when he spoke, it sounded like sandpaper scraping against wood.

Lin Ye slowed his pace and moved his mouth slightly.

Qin Hai spoke first.

"If you keep hanging around in front of me, I'll change your entire schedule to daytime triage next month."

Lin Ye shrank his neck.

Qin Hai waved his hand with his eyes closed.

"go."

The door to the duty room was pushed open, and it was dark inside.

The thin blanket on the narrow bed was folded crookedly, and there was a dent in the middle of the pillow from the previous person's sleep. The air smelled of disinfectant mixed with instant noodle seasoning packets.

The lights in the woods were off.

He sat down, feeling his way along the edge of the bed, and took off his white coat, draping it over the foot of the bed. He kicked off his shoes, fell backward, and the bed creaked.

There is a crack in the ceiling that runs from the corner of the wall all the way to the edge of the lampshade.

He stared at the crack, his mind still racing.

Digoxin. Furosemide. Heart rate 48 bpm. Prolonged PR interval. Poor kidney function. These are self-medicated drugs, no prescription, and no one is monitoring potassium supplementation.

None of them are under his jurisdiction anymore.

The cardiology department is watching. The nephrology department is watching. The first signature in the logbook is Sun Zhiqiang's.

He closed his eyes.

All the blue text in my field of vision went dark, with only a tiny outline remaining, like the last flash before a phone screen goes out.

An occasional beep from a monitor could be heard in the hallway. It was hard to hear clearly through the door.

Lin Ye turned over and buried his face in the pillow.

The pillowcase was a little damp and had a smell of laundry detergent that hadn't been rinsed off completely.

For some reason, the sound of that phone call from the lab was still lingering in my mind. I also remembered the line Sun Zhiqiang had signed before his name.

Then I couldn't think of anything anymore.