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

When the phone rang, Lin Ye thought it was an alarm clock.

He reached out and touched a vibrating screen. It wasn't an alarm clock; it was an incoming call.

Zhou Min.

I squinted for two seconds before scanning it, and my voice was so hoarse that it startled me.

"Director Zhou?"

"Are you awake?" Zhou Min's landline at the nurses' station was ringing, and someone was calling out bed numbers.

Lin Ye propped himself up on his arms and sat up. The light coming through the curtains was much brighter than before he left, and the sandwich on the table was still in its original place.

It's 10:03 on my phone.

He slept for less than four hours.

"What's wrong?"

"There's someone on the handover log that doesn't match up." Zhou Min flipped through something, the corner of the paper brushing against the table. "Wu Deming, 61, under observation for abdominal pain. He had an abdominal CT scan done at 12:50 last night, and it finished at 1:08."

She paused for a moment.

"But the sign-in section was empty when I returned."

Lin Ye rubbed his eyes.

"Empty?"

"The day shift nurse found it when she turned to this page. His things were still on the bed, his water bottle and coat were untouched, and his phone was still plugged in to charge. It's just that he's gone."

Most of my drowsiness has subsided.

"Where are the family members?"

"My spouse went home too late last night and said they would come back this morning. There are no family members in the observation area."

"What about the people accompanying you during the examination?"

"Xiao Zhang. She said she would drop him off at the entrance of the CT room and wait for him to finish. After he finished, he said he could walk, so she went back to pick up the next patient."

Lin Ye remained silent for a second.

I finished the CT scan at 1:08 PM, and it's 10:00 PM now. Almost nine hours have passed. A 61-year-old person with abdominal pain hasn't gone back to bed after the examination.

Did you call his cell phone?

"My phone is charging on the bedside table."

Lin Ye had already put his feet on the ground. The floor was so cold that his toes twitched.

"Have the CT scan results come out yet?"

"It's out, I got it during the day shift. Nothing major, it said there was a small cyst in the liver, and no other obvious abnormalities were found. Because the result was fine, the day shift worker didn't pay much attention to why he hadn't come back."

"And now?"

"I asked Ma Hao to go and look. He should check the CT room, the corridor, the restrooms, and the waiting area."

Lin Ye held his phone between his fingers with one hand and tugged at yesterday's pants with the other.

"What caused his abdominal pain last night?"

"The handover log states that the patient experienced intermittent, dull pain around the navel, which was not severe. Vital signs were stable, and routine blood and urine tests showed no abnormalities. The patient was kept under observation pending a CT scan."

"What about defecating?"

Zhou Min paused for a moment.

"It wasn't written in the handover log."

"He hadn't gone for a check-up when I was there last night," Lin Ye recalled. "Around 12:10 to 12:20, I glanced at him in the observation area. He was lying on the bed and told me that his stomach felt better than when he first arrived."

"So you last saw him between 0:10 and 0:20?"

"right."

The sound of Zhou Min's pen tip slicing across paper.

"Okay, I've noted down the time. Don't come over yet, I'll tell you after Ma Hao finds the person."

"I'll come over here."

"You only slept for a few hours after your night shift."

"I know, but..."

"Lin Ye," Zhou Min's voice wasn't loud, but it was controlled, "You're not on the schedule right now. I need your time from last night, not you in person. I'll call you again if there's any news from Ma Hao."

Lin Ye stood by the curtains, holding his phone. Light streamed in through the gaps, illuminating his face; the marks left by the pillow hadn't faded yet.

"it is good."

It's over.

He glanced at the sandwich on the table. He tore it open and took a bite. The bread was a bit hard, and the lettuce was wilted. It was cold.

I chewed it twice and swallowed it.

The phone rang again.

Ma Hao.

"Brother Ye, we've found him."

Lin Ye swallowed what was in his mouth.

"Where?"

"There's a row of chairs against the wall on the corner from the CT room on the first floor. He was sitting in the innermost one. The cleaning lady said she saw him when she was sweeping the floor around 6 a.m. and thought he was a family member waiting for someone."

"What's the situation now?"

Ma Hao hesitated for a moment.

"He was awake and could talk. But when I called his name, he didn't turn to look at me for several seconds. When I asked him which bed he was in, he opened and closed his mouth, and then finally said it after a while. When I asked him why he didn't go back to the observation area, he said he just didn't want to move anymore while walking."

Lin Ye put the sandwich down.

"Is your speech clear and unambiguous?"

"No ambiguity, just slow. One word at a time, with pauses in between."

"Can you stand up?"

"He can stand, but he says his legs are too weak. I was worried he would fall, so I found a wheelchair for him to sit in."

"Did you take your blood pressure?"

"Measured. 98 to 62, heart rate 89."

Lin Ye remembered that the handover log stated his blood pressure was over 120 when he arrived last night. It had dropped by 20.

"What about your blood sugar?"

"I didn't bring a blood glucose meter, I'll ask the nurses at the station to hand me one."

Lin Ye was already putting on his shoes.

"Ma Hao, don't move him yet. Put the wheelchair brakes on and let him sit up. Tell me as soon as the blood sugar test is done."

He paused for a moment.

"I'm coming over now."

"it is good."

Lin Ye threw the half-eaten sandwich back onto the table, took a sip of water, grabbed his coat, and headed out.

He waited half a minute for the dormitory elevator to come, so he took the stairs instead, taking two steps at a time to descend. His calves were a little weak, a lingering effect of standing all night.

I pushed open the building entrance door, and the sun was shining brightly outside. People were pushing strollers, walking dogs, and deliverymen were whizzing past on their electric scooters.

My phone vibrated.

News about Ma Hao:

Blood sugar 3.4.

My blood pressure dropped by 20, my reaction time is slow, my legs feel weak, and my blood sugar is 3.4.

Lin Ye started running.

He ran the seven or eight-minute walk in less than five minutes. He was panting heavily when he entered the hospital, and the security guard at the gate gave him a second look.

He didn't go through the main entrance of the emergency room, but instead went directly into the first-floor corridor through the side door.

Walking back from the CT room, around the corner, you can see Ma Hao squatting next to a wheelchair in the distance.

An elderly man in a striped hospital gown sat in a wheelchair, his head tilted to one side, as if he were dozing off but not quite. His hands dangled over the armrests, and the transparent film from the IV catheter from the previous night was still stuck to the back of his hands.

When Ma Hao saw Lin Ye running over, he stood up and took two steps to meet him.

"Here it is. Blood sugar is 3.4, just tested." He handed the blood glucose meter to Lin Ye and showed him the number.

Lin Ye didn't connect the blood glucose meter; instead, he squatted down in front of the wheelchair.

"Uncle Wu, look at me."

The old man slowly turned his head. His eyes were open, but his gaze was unfocused, as if he were looking at people through something.

Do you know where this is?

His lips moved slightly.

Three or four seconds passed before the sound came out.

"Hospital."

Which bed are you staying in?

Another three or four seconds passed.

"twelve."

Lin Ye reached out and touched his forehead. It wasn't hot. His skin was a little cool and sweaty.

"Show me your palm."

The old man turned his hand over, his movements as slow as if he were retrieving something from water. His palms were damp, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

Lin Ye stood up and glanced at both ends of the corridor.

"Does the nurses' station know?"

"Okay, the day shift nurse said to take it back first and then check."

"Push it back. Don't walk too fast, keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't stray."

Ma Hao released the wheelchair brakes, and the two of them pushed it towards the emergency room, one in front and one behind.

People on the day shift came and went in the corridor, some stepping aside to make way for wheelchairs. Sunlight streamed in through the glass window at the end of the corridor, casting a bright strip on the floor.

As the wheelchair wheels rolled over the light, Lin Ye glanced down at the old man's face.

He didn't yell or scream, nor did he writhe in pain clutching his stomach. He just sat there quietly, reacting slowly, speaking slowly, and his hands were trembling.

When they reached the emergency room nurses' station, Zhou Min was already standing there. She frowned when she saw Lin Ye.

"Didn't I tell you not to come?"

Lin Ye didn't respond to that, and stopped the wheelchair.

Zhou Min didn't say anything more and squatted down in front of the wheelchair. She placed her hand on the old man's wrist and looked in the direction of the monitor.

"What's your blood sugar level?"

"Three point four." Ma Hao handed over the blood glucose meter.

"Give them glucose first," Zhou Min called out to the nurses' station as she stood up. "Have 50 ml of glucose prepared; give them one injection first."

As she spoke, she glanced at the old man again and gently pressed her finger on his abdomen.

"Mr. Wu, does your stomach still hurt?"

The old man slowly shook his head.

Zhou Min's hand remained on his stomach, not withdrawing.

I came in with abdominal pain. The CT scan was normal. Now my condition is getting worse, but the abdominal pain has stopped.

She looked up at Lin Ye without saying anything, but Lin Ye understood what she meant.

This doesn't seem like simple hypoglycemia.