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

When Lin Ye circled around to the red zone, the nurse was bending down to take Guo Jie's husband's blood pressure.

He stood in the red zone for a few more minutes. The readings stopped dropping, and the suction tube remained hanging by the bedside. Later that night, whenever the man coughed, the person beside the bed would look up.

As dawn approached, the day shift workers had already arrived at their posts, but the night shift logbook had not yet been completed.

Sun Zhiqiang pulled the temporary slip from under the registration book last night and glanced at it in the direction of the red zone.

"Linye."

"exist."

"Before the day shift finishes signing, let's clarify those few sentences from last night."

Those few minutes before the shift handover were squeezed out from the tail end of the night shift.

The lights in the corridor were still on, the chair in front of the nurses' station had been moved several times, and there was a tire mark on the ground that hadn't dried yet.

Nurse Zhao pushed the night shift logbook toward the day shift nurses; the red tags were too thick, and the pages curled up as soon as they loosened.

"Read the red tags on these pages about the night market first, don't push them to the back." She pointed with the back of her pen, "The child, Sister Guo and her husband, the person in the blue work clothes, and the person who had their follow-up appointment are all nearby. Don't act like nothing's wrong with those people in the mild case section who said they only ate a couple of bites."

The day shift nurse took the notebook and first turned to the page with the red label.

"What about AFC Champions League side?"

"Follow the doctor's orders," Nurse Zhao said. "Pediatrics, emergency room second-line, and higher-ups are all watching. Don't scare yourself just because someone outside says 'blue medicine.'"

The day shift nurse folded a corner of that page and flipped to the next one.

"What about the bus stop?"

"The elderly and the child will be picked up by ambulance. Once they arrive, they will be treated the same way. The yellow bag is not for the emergency room; it will be handed over to the supervisory department. The girl from Dongyuan is in the pediatric ward; don't let her mix with that boy in the hospital."

Ma Hao stood to the side and yawned, but halfway through, he was glanced at by Nurse Zhao and forced to suppress it.

"If you're sleepy, go wash your face. Don't let your yawns get into your shift handover."

Ma Hao rubbed the corner of his eye.

"Sister Zhao, I'm afraid that if I wash my face, the washbasin will fall asleep."

"That's perfect, the washbasin is quieter than you."

The nurse on the day shift next to me chuckled, then quickly looked down at the register.

Sun Zhiqiang didn't laugh; his fingertips were still pressing down on the temporary form.

He put the paper on the nurses' station.

"Tell me. Why can't Sister Guo's husband be placed in the observation position?"

Ma Hao immediately swallowed his yawn and opened his eyes wide.

Nurse Zhao was still holding the registration book in her hand and didn't look up.

"Don't just watch the show, let's double-check Sister Guo's phone number."

"I think it sounds like a nuclear test too."

"You said the same thing last time."

Ma Hao shut up and obediently went to look up the numbers.

Lin Ye did not look at that page.

He looked towards the red zone.

"He can't go too far from the red zone."

Sun Zhiqiang did not interrupt.

Lin Ye continued, "We immediately used the suction device after that coughing fit. He vomited on the way here, so he was slow to react, and his color hasn't faded much even with oxygen."

He paused for a moment.

"It's too far away, there's no time to move it."

Upon hearing this, the day shift doctor paused, then lowered his head and added a few words after the column for Guo Jie's husband.

Sun Zhiqiang tapped the spot next to the red tag.

"Did you hear me?"

The day shift doctor responded.

"Attract attention near the red zone and the bedside." After writing this, the day shift doctor looked up at the red zone again. "This person cannot be out of sight."

Nurse Zhao flipped through the registration book and casually added a comment.

"Guo Jie's husband's sister is outside, but the phone is reachable. Guo Jie's sister is also there. The child didn't eat that bowl of cold beef salad; he drank his own water. Please stop asking about this; the child is being bombarded with questions like math problems."

The day shift nurse couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Ye also twitched the corner of his mouth.

Before the smile could fade, someone shouted from the red zone.

"The follow-up blood gas analysis in the blue overalls showed the results were back, and the methemoglobin level was also present!"

The emergency room second-line staff took a look.

"Leave it here for me. The methemoglobin level is a little lower than the previous one, but I'm still drowsy and need to stay alert. Did anyone get through on the phone?"

Ma Hao happened to turn to that page in the number book.

"His sister answered and said she'd be right there. She also told him not to call the home phone."

Nurse Zhao didn't look up.

Why am I so afraid of landlines tonight?

Ma Hao whispered, "When the landline rings, the whole family wakes up."

"Good to know." Nurse Zhao tossed him the red pen. "Then write it clearly so the day shift doesn't make a mistake again."

The person in the blue overalls was still in the red zone monitoring position when they heard the word "landline," their eyelids twitched, but they couldn't stay awake any longer.

After that sentence, the atmosphere in front of the nurses' station eased a little.

Sun Zhiqiang turned his gaze back to Lin Ye.

"What you said earlier works."

Lin Ye didn't answer immediately.

Sun Zhiqiang didn't make any absolute statements.

"It's not that you'll be right about everything from now on."

Sun Zhiqiang turned the paper towards Lin Ye, his finger hovering next to the signature line.

"But this time, the point was made."

"In the future, for those groups that are from the same origin and look similar, you should first identify the high-risk ones."

Ma Hao looked up again.

Sun Zhiqiang didn't even look at him.

"You propose it, I sign it. Or the supervisor on duty can sign it."

Lin Ye looked at that column, and the dryness in his throat slowly subsided.

It wasn't a promotion, nor was it someone patting him on the shoulder and praising him.

But this statement is more substantial than empty boasting.

In the future, if he feels that a patient cannot be postponed, at least someone will be willing to listen to him finish speaking.

Sun Zhiqiang immediately followed with his next sentence.

"Don't be too happy yet." Sun Zhiqiang pressed down on the corner of the paper. "You suggested it, you didn't decide. State the basis for your suggestion, don't try to take over the doctor's orders."

Nurse Zhao raised her head this time.

"Teacher Sun, is that a compliment or a task assignment?"

"It doesn't matter."

Ma Hao held the red pen and muttered something to himself.

"Brother Lin's job sounds no easier than working the night shift."

Nurse Zhao closed the registration book.

"Stop feeling sorry for him. First, write the numbers down correctly, so that his sister doesn't find out that her phone number has been changed to that of a relative."

Ma Hao quickly lowered his head.

Lin Ye watched them bicker for a bit before realizing he was still clutching the glove in his hand.

He had crumpled the cuffs of his gloves, and his palms were sweaty.

He threw the gloves into the yellow garbage bag and then rinsed his hands at the sink.

As cold water rinsed through my fingers, pale blue lettering briefly lit up in the corner of my vision.

Emergency Room Early Warning System

[Added auxiliary function: Missing item marker.]

[Important notes: Missing follow-up date, missing contact person, sample not delivered.]

Lin Ye looked at the last line; the water was still flowing down.

This damn system finally doesn't just pop up to scare people at the most critical moments.

But the next second, he turned the tap back on.

The sheet of paper at the nurses' station was still lying there, with a small blank space next to the signature column.

The system can remind him, but only what is visible can be left on the paper.

When he dried his hands and returned to the nurses' station, Sun Zhiqiang was saying his last words to the day shift doctor.

"The responsibility for the food, stalls, and other issues outside is handled by the on-duty supervisor. In the emergency room, focus on the patients first, make sure no one is missed during follow-up examinations, and don't make random phone calls. If anyone brings back leftovers, ask them first if they've eaten them, and don't start arguing about compensation right away."

The day shift doctor nodded.

"clear."

Nurse Zhao stuffed the thermos into her bag, the lid only half-twisted.

Lin Ye actually smiled this time.

After laughing, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

He took it out and glanced at it.

It was a work message from Chen Yao in the laboratory department.

[Let's be clear first, don't blame the lab. The application is visible in the system; one of the blood gas retests from the night market didn't specify a retest date. The sample hasn't been delivered to our window yet.]

A photo followed.

In the photo, the section for the follow-up examination time is empty.

Lin Ye had just breathed a sigh of relief, but now he was on edge again.

He handed the phone to Sun Zhiqiang.

Sun Zhiqiang frowned after just one glance.

Which one?

Lin Ye looked at the temporary number in the corner of the photo.

He is not Sister Guo's husband.

He's not a night market boy either.

It was that middle-aged woman sitting in the mild symptom ward, who kept saying she had only eaten two bites of braised food.

Her lip color wasn't the darkest at the time, and she couldn't explain her chest tightness. After registering, she was scheduled for a follow-up examination. Just now, when roll call was taken, she responded and said she was going to the door for some fresh air.

But now, the application form doesn't have a date, and the person isn't sitting in their original seat.

Nurse Zhao stopped unscrewing the cup lid in her hand.

"Don't tell me it's another mild case ward."

Lin Ye did not immediately say it was high-risk.

He put his phone away and first looked at the row of chairs in the mild cases area.

Is the person still there?

Ma Hao turned around and looked in that direction.

There was no one on the chair.

The plastic bag containing the coat was still hanging on the back of the chair.

The day shift nurse pointed towards the automatic door.

"He was on the phone at the door, and he was just saying he'd be back in a bit."

Lin Ye did not immediately push people into high-risk situations.

"Call them back first."

He glanced at the empty square in the photo.

"The follow-up examination time will be made up, and who will send the samples will also be decided now."