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

Ma Hao pushed the blank form aside.

"When did it start to swell?"

The woman at the window had already handed in the medical record book, glancing behind her as she did so. An elderly man stood beside her, around sixty years old, his coat zipped up only to his chest, and he kept hiccuping, but his face didn't show any signs of unbearable pain.

"Let's finish eating," the woman replied quickly. "He has a chronic stomach problem, and we're out of stomach medicine. Doctor, just prescribe some, we won't take up too much of your time."

Behind her was another parent holding a child with a fever patch on the child's forehead, who was crying until the child had little strength left. Nurse Zhu tapped the edge of the window with the temperature gun.

"Put the notebook here. Move aside half a step, don't block the window."

The woman quickly moved aside, still explaining that the old man had previously undergone a gastroscopy and was diagnosed with gastritis. He also mentioned experiencing bloating and belching, which were usually relieved by medication. The more she spoke, the quieter the old man became, only lowering his head to feel for his pockets.

Just as Ma Hao was about to write "postprandial bloating" on the triage slip, Lin Ye glanced at the old man from the side.

"Let your uncle say it himself."

The woman didn't interrupt. Ma Hao stopped writing after "after the meal" with his pen, then leaned slightly towards the old man.

"Uncle, tell me yourself, what time did you start feeling unwell?"

The old man looked at his daughter first. This time, the daughter didn't interrupt, but just pursed her lips and waited.

"Around four o'clock," the old man said softly. "I hadn't had dinner yet."

The woman turned her face away abruptly.

"A little after four o'clock? Didn't you tell me you felt unwell after eating?"

"When I say my stomach isn't feeling well, you just say it's probably the same old problem again." The old woman was getting a little impatient with her questions. "You're always rushing around like this after work, what am I supposed to say?"

"Then why didn't you call me sooner?"

"How many days off have you taken this month?" The old man turned his face away slightly. "Isn't your boss saying anything?"

The woman's words were cut off.

Ma Hao looked down at the two characters "after dinner" that he had only written halfway, and silently crossed them out.

Lin Ye didn't go to get the blank form. People were coming and going around the triage desk. He saw several people with common stomach bloating every day. If he had to fill out the high-risk form for every one of them, the emergency room wouldn't have anything else to do.

Ma Hao put the pen back on the triage slip and asked questions more slowly than before.

"Uncle, where is it bloated?"

The old man gestured with his hand over his upper abdomen.

"Here, it's sticking up. I keep wanting to burp."

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's not bad, it's just congested."

The woman couldn't help but add, "He used to say the same thing when he had gastritis."

Nurse Zhu handed over the blood pressure cuff.

"Past illnesses don't excuse signing today. Uncle, roll up your sleeves, don't measure through your sweater."

The old man obediently sat down next to him, muttering to himself that he shouldn't have come. He said that even if he wasn't sick, they could find out he was sick just by asking him questions.

Nurse Zhu wrapped his sleeve without looking up.

"It's best if you can't get a answer, but even if you do, it's better than going home and suffering in silence."

Lin Ye waited until the blood pressure cuff started inflating before asking further questions.

Does it feel tightness in your chest?

The old man shook his head.

"Are there any aches or pains in your back, left shoulder, or left arm? Are you sweating?"

"no."

"Do you feel nauseous? Do you have a fever today? Is your stool dark in color?"

The old man answered quickly this time: "No vomiting, no fever, and no dark circles."

The woman loosened her grip on the medical record book slightly. Ma Hao had barely finished his sentence when Nurse Zhu had already announced the number.

"Blood pressure 14886, heart rate 84, blood oxygen 98, body temperature 36.7 degrees Celsius."

"The numbers are alright," Ma Hao said.

Qin Hai was coming out of the office when he heard this, and he closed the door behind him.

"Even if you look good, you still have to finish asking the questions."

Ma Hao swallowed the rest of his breath.

Qin Hai didn't squeeze to the window; he just looked at Lin Ye.

What do you think?

Lin Ye opened the patient's medical record. Tucked inside were two old gastroscopy reports, both dated rather than recent. He pressed one of them back down and said, "Don't push him to the red zone yet. But given his age and the onset time doesn't match up, I can't just prescribe some stomach medicine and send him on his own. Do an electrocardiogram, make sure you see the medicine box carefully, and have him sit next to me and wait for a while."

After listening, Qin Hai didn't ask any more questions.

"Okay, let's go this way for now. Don't just focus on your stomach if you have an upset stomach."

He finished speaking and went to the observation area. The woman at the window, holding the electrocardiogram application form, looked even more tense.

"Doctor, he didn't say he had heart pain, do I still need to do an electrocardiogram?"

Nurse Zhu tore off the triage slip and handed it to Ma Hao.

"It won't hurt, but we can still do the test. Help your uncle to sit down first; the child behind him still has a fever."

The woman glanced back, finally stopped blocking the window, and helped the old man to a chair. The old man had barely sat down when he started reaching into his pockets again.

Lin Ye saw it.

"What are you looking for?"

"Medicine." The old man took out a small tin box. "I was in a hurry to get out, and I haven't taken it yet."

When the tin box was opened, the pills inside were a complete mess. Cut aluminum plates, loose white tablets, and two capsules were all crammed together.

Ma Hao leaned over for a look and couldn't resist.

"Uncle, your box is messier than my drawer."

The old man was not convinced.

"I recognize it. The white one is stomach medicine, and the yellow one is blood pressure medicine."

The woman reached out to take the box.

"You put your blood pressure medication in the wrong place like that? What if you take the wrong one?"

The old man tucked the tin box into his palm.

"save trouble."

Lin Ye reached out to stop him.

"Don't take it yet. Read the medicine name carefully later."

The old man looked up at him.

"Your stomach is bloated and you won't let me take medicine? Am I just supposed to sit here doing nothing?"

"Sit down for a bit." Lin Ye put the small metal box into a transparent bag. "Have you taken your blood pressure medication today?"

The old man stopped for a little longer this time.

I think I ate something this morning.

The woman stared at him.

"like?"

Nurse Zhu pulled out a temporary label from the side and stuck it on.

"Don't argue. Send me a picture of the original packaging from home. You won't get the name of the medicine by arguing here."

The woman lowered her head and made a phone call home, asking her mother to take a picture of all the medicines on the table. The old woman sat in her chair, looking somewhat embarrassed. She seemed about to say something, but after glancing at the feverish child beside her, she swallowed her words.

Holding the triage slip, Ma Hao lowered his voice slightly: "Do I need to fill out a form for this?"

Lin Ye glanced at the empty table on the table.

The corner of the paper had been pushed back and forth several times, and the edges were already curling up a bit. Lin Ye didn't touch it.

"Don't fill it in yet."

Ma Hao's pen tip didn't touch the paper.

"Not filling it out?"

"There isn't enough evidence right now," Lin Ye said. "Write down clearly that it was around 4 a.m., that your upper abdomen was bloated, and that the medicine boxes were mixed up. Ask again after the ECG comes back. Ask again twenty minutes later. If you feel chest tightness, sweating, nausea, or even more bloating, call for help."

Ma Hao lowered his head to write halfway through the conversation, and then circled "twenty minutes" after he finished writing.

"This is even more troublesome than filling out a form."

"That's why I'm having you sit here," Lin Ye said.

Ma Hao stopped joking and took the elderly man to get an electrocardiogram.

The woman followed them for a while, then turned back. She was still clutching her phone, the screen showing a chat with her family.

"Doctor, my dad is easily frightened. If it's really nothing serious, please don't scare him."

Lin Ye glanced in the direction the old man had left.

"Don't scare yourself unnecessarily. Just tell him to check it out and then see. Don't delete the photo of the medicine box."

The woman nodded, deleted the message she had already typed out ("The doctor said there might be a heart problem"), and sent a new message: "Take clear pictures of all the medications Dad usually takes."

The electrocardiogram results came back quickly.

When Ma Hao returned with the map, the old man followed behind, his face saying, "I knew coming to the hospital would be troublesome." Qin Hai happened to be turning back from the observation area and casually took the map to glance at it.

"I don't see anything urgent on this one yet." He handed the picture back to Lin Ye. "Don't rush off. Ask again when the time comes. Don't just leave the record with the words 'stomach bloating'."

When the woman heard "temporarily," she looked at Lin Ye again.

"So, is everything alright now?"

"I can't see anything wrong yet." Lin Ye tucked the electrocardiogram into the recorder. "You need to sit for a while longer. Uncle, don't go to the door yet, and don't take your medicine by yourself."

The old man sighed.

"I don't smoke."

The woman standing nearby chimed in, "Isn't a cigarette after a meal a cigarette?"

The old man glared at her.

Why do you say everything?

"Since you're already here," the woman replied softly, "why are you still hiding?"

The old man opened his mouth, but in the end he just turned his head to one side.

The woman then sent over photos of her home. Blood pressure medication, stomach medicine, and half a blister pack of ibuprofen sustained-release capsules were all laid out on the table, along with a few loose, already cut pieces.

Lin Ye zoomed in on the photo.

Have you taken this painkiller recently?

The old man lowered his voice.

"My knee hurts, so I took two pills the day before yesterday."

The woman looked at him, her anger rising a little more.

"You took painkillers again?"

The old man fell silent.

Lin Ye didn't follow up on their anger, but simply added the name of the medicine to the record.

"Don't give yourself painkillers yet. If the pain is worse when you get home, your vomit is an unusual color, or your stool is black, don't wait at home, come straight back."

The old man frowned.

"How bad is the color?"

Nurse Zhu was giving oxygen to a child with a fever when she heard this and chimed in.

"Don't stay home researching lipstick shades. If you're really sick of it, bring someone home, but don't post in the family group chat first."

The old man was speechless, and pushed the small tin box into the transparent bag.

In less than twenty minutes, Ma Hao had already looked at the clock on the wall twice.

Nurse Zhu handed the feverish child's temperature strip to the parent, glancing at him casually.

"No matter how much you watch, Zhong won't walk faster."

"I'm afraid I'll forget."

"If you can't even remember something that's so big, don't blame the form, blame your brain."

Ma Hao put the pen cap back on and then uncapped it. When it was time, he took the triage slip to ask the patient again, and when he came back, he didn't beat around the bush.

"He said he felt better than before. No chest tightness, no sweating, and no vomiting. His blood pressure was 142.82 and his heart rate was 80."

Lin Ye glanced at the blank form.

I still didn't take it this time.

He only added a few sentences to the end of the triage record: The follow-up inquiry showed no worsening, the electrocardiogram did not show any obvious acute changes, and the conditions for the return visit have been explained. Please bring the original medicine box next time.

After he finished writing, he handed the pen to Ma Hao.

"You asked again, sign it."

Ma Hao took the pen and signed his name on the back.

"It turns out that not filling out forms isn't easy either."

"If you're not going to fill it out, you need to write it clearly." Lin Ye clipped the record together. "Otherwise, if someone finds this tomorrow and only sees the words 'stomach bloating,' they'll think you just opened a box of medicine and released the person."

Nurse Zhu pushed the next triage slip over.

"Just so you know. In the future, don't try to show off every time you see a blank space, and don't pretend nothing happened just because you see a blank space."

The elderly man, holding the payment slip and electrocardiogram, was being helped by his daughter towards the examination room. Halfway there, he turned back.

"Doctor, can I eat dinner tonight?"

Nurse Zhu pointed in the direction of the examination room.

"Let the doctor see you first. Even if you can eat, don't go back and eat fried peanuts with it."

The old man muttered, "I was just asking," but his daughter glared at him and shut him up.

There was a brief pause in front of the window for a few seconds.

Nurse Zhu glanced at the waiting area, then at the clock on the wall.

"There are no red numbers right now. You two go eat, ten minutes."

Ma Hao's eyes lit up.

"Sister Zhu, your words are more valuable than any consultation opinion."

Nurse Zhu slapped the empty triage slip onto his side.

"Even if you're poor, you stay and watch the number; I'll let Lin Ye go alone."

Ma Hao immediately stood up.

Lin Ye had just closed his notebook when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

A voice message popped up on the screen.

From the mother.