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

The phone screen was still lit up, and Zhou Min glanced at it as she passed by.

"Xiao Chen from the lab?"

Lin Ye looked up at her.

Zhou Min saw the words "Li Wencheng" and "blood drug concentration 1.8" in the message, and her lips twitched slightly.

"Other people made a point of saving this number when they changed shifts. You, on the other hand, haven't even saved your name yet."

Lin Ye was about to explain when Zhou Min returned to the main topic: "Okay, things are temporarily stable on Li Wencheng's side. Keep this message for later record-keeping."

Before Lin Ye could put his phone back in his pocket, Wu Deming was pushed back.

The gurney rattled loudly as it came down the corridor. The day shift nurse held onto the IV stand with one hand and pressed the monitor with the other to prevent it from slipping. The people accompanying patients in the CT scan room followed behind, almost jogging.

The day shift supervisor had already stood up from his seat. He glanced at the video that had just been transmitted, then at Wu Deming on the flatbed cart. The old man's eyes were closed, and his face was even paler than before.

What is your blood pressure?

"86 to 54. It dropped again before I went." The day shift nurse pushed the monitor to the bedside and reconnected the leads.

Zhou Min hung up the phone and came over.

"The general surgeon will arrive within ten minutes. The vascular surgeon on duty is in another surgery; have them come over to review the scans first."

The supervisor on the day shift nodded, raised Wu Deming's bed a little, and checked whether the IV line was clear.

Lin Ye stood to the side without moving.

Five minutes later, the general surgery doctor on duty arrived. He was in his thirties, wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt under his white coat, probably pulled out from between surgeries. The strap of his surgical cap was still hanging around his neck.

He glanced at the image on the screen as he entered, zooming in on the section about blood vessels for a few seconds. Then he walked to the bedside.

Instead of asking the patient how they were feeling, the first question they asked was about the time.

When did the abdominal pain start?

The supervisor on the day shift checked the records. "The patient was registered at 10:43 last night, complaining of dull pain around the navel."

"It's been fourteen hours now," the general surgery doctor on duty said, tapping the bed rail with his finger.

He then asked, "When did the pain stop?"

No one can answer this question immediately.

The shift supervisor glanced at Zhou Min, who shook her head. The handover log didn't record the exact time the abdominal pain disappeared.

Lin Ye spoke up.

"Between 12:10 and 12:20, I saw him once in the observation area. At that time, he was still conscious and could speak normally."

The general surgery doctor on duty turned his head and glanced at him, recognized him, and his lips twitched.

"Aren't you on the night shift? Why are you here during the day too?"

"They were called back."

"Does the emergency room only handle patients without you?"

Zhou Min coldly chimed in from the side, "It can still be turned, it just means one more person is needed to help push the cart."

"He was still in a little pain around 12:20, then he had a CT scan done, which was finished at 1:08." The general surgery doctor on duty mentally recalled these dates. "When we found him this morning around 10:00, he was no longer in pain."

He walked back to the screen and tapped the darkened blood vessel on the image with his finger.

"When the pain is severe, it at least means that the intestines are still in pain. If the pain suddenly stops, but the person becomes even more listless and their blood pressure drops, it's a sign that the intestinal wall has become so weak that it's no longer responsive. This is more troublesome than constantly complaining of pain."

He glanced at the blood pressure monitor. Eighty-four to fifty-two.

"How much lactic acid?"

"5.1. Tested an hour ago."

"The number is probably higher now," the on-call general surgery doctor said, then looked at his day shift supervisor. "Has the second-line vascular surgery team arrived yet?"

"On the way."

"Let's decide together when he arrives. My opinion is that we can't wait any longer. Whether it's intervention or surgery, we need to get the blood flow back on. If we delay any longer and the intestines really get damaged, it won't just be a matter of unblocking blood vessels; it will be a matter of cutting out the intestines."

He turned and glanced at Wu Deming. The old man's eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow, and his lips were so pale they were almost bloodless.

"Are your family members here?"

"Outside," Zhou Min pointed towards the door.

"Call him in. We need to talk. We need to explain clearly the possibilities of interventional procedures, surgery, and bowel necrosis."

Zhou Min walked towards the door. She stopped for a moment as she passed the woods.

"Your timing is already useful. Go back now."

Lin Ye glanced at Wu Deming on the stretcher. The numbers on the monitor were still jumping, and several people were already standing around. The day shift supervisor was adjusting the IV drip rate, and the general surgery on-call doctor was on the phone.

"it is good."

Lin Ye walked towards the emergency room lobby. When he passed Ma Hao, Ma Hao was standing next to the nurses' station eating a steamed bun, which he probably got from Wu Deming's wife's pocket.

"Brother Ye, you're gone?" He spoke indistinctly, his mouth full of something.

"Go back to sleep."

"Fine. I'll hit you if you need to."

Lin Ye waved his hand.

As he reached the automatic door, sunlight streamed in, making him squint. His legs felt a little weak, and his mind went a beat slower than usual.

He passed the convenience store but didn't go in. He walked straight back to his dormitory, his pace much slower than when he came. The sun was already starting to shine.

When I got back to my dorm and opened the door, the half-eaten sandwich was still on the table.

Lin Ye picked up the sandwich and glanced at it; the bread was already dry.

I had no choice but to eat it anyway. I even ate the dry kind. It didn't taste like much while I was chewing it; it was just filling my stomach.

After finishing his meal, he drank a couple of mouthfuls of water, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed onto the bed.

Someone shouted something from downstairs outside the window, but I couldn't hear clearly. The air conditioner was humming.

Lin Ye stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. The dark blood vessel was still in his mind, as was the general surgeon's reminder about "no pain."

He rolled over and faced the wall.

From now on, when patients under observation go out for tests, someone will have to keep an eye on them to see if they come back. We can't let people sit in the corridor for nine hours without anyone knowing.

Thinking of this, my eyelids closed.