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

When Lin Ye walked back to the triage desk, the person was already standing by the table.

The young man, in his early twenties, wore a black work uniform with the zipper halfway up. His right hand was pressed against his stomach, and he dared not straighten his back. The girl next to him was holding a helmet, and her other hand was still tugging at his sleeve, as if afraid he would turn around and leave.

Nurse Zhu glanced at the girl.

"Don't rush, let him sit down first."

"Doctor, he has pain in his right abdomen. He ate spicy hot pot this afternoon. I told him to come to the hospital, but he insisted on going back to the shop, saying he still had a few phones to pick up."

She spoke quickly, and almost couldn't catch her breath when she finished the second half of her sentence.

Nurse Zhu didn't interrupt her; she first wrote "right lower abdominal pain" on the triage slip.

"Okay, I'll write it down first. He can fill it in himself later."

The girl then shut her mouth and hugged the helmet tightly to her chest.

The young man felt a little embarrassed after she glanced at him.

"It's not that scary, it's just that my right side hurts."

Ma Hao dragged a chair over.

"The chair is here. If you keep hunching over like that, the people next to you will feel sorry for you."

He sat down very slowly; as soon as his buttocks touched the chair, his right hand went back to his stomach.

Lin Ye transferred the triage slip to himself.

"What's your name?"

Tao Zi'ang, twenty-four.

"When did the pain start?"

Tao Ziang took a breath.

"Around 4 PM."

The girl couldn't help but add, "He only agreed to talk at six. I could tell something was wrong with his voice as soon as I heard it, so I rushed over, and he was still behind the counter repairing a screen for someone."

Tao Ziang looked at her.

"The customer needs to pick that up tonight."

"You're already like this, your phone won't die if it stays a day later."

"A bad review will kill you."

Ma Hao didn't respond to that, but reached out and moved the blood pressure monitor closer to the table.

Nurse Zhu picked up the cuff.

"Don't give us a bad review yet. Roll up your sleeves and check your blood pressure first."

Lin Ye paused for a moment before the words "mala tang" (spicy hot pot). This term was so common on the triage desk that if it was written down, people behind would easily think of it as "eating something bad."

"The pain started on the right side?"

Tao Ziang thought for a moment.

"No. At first it twisted around the navel, then it moved to the right."

The girl looked at him immediately.

Why didn't you say so earlier?

"I only felt pain just now, I didn't know you would ask such detailed questions."

Lin Ye stopped writing.

"Is the pain constant, or does it come in waves?"

"It comes in waves. It's more noticeable when I walk, but it's a little better when I'm sitting."

"Have you vomited? Have you had diarrhea?"

"no."

"Does it hurt when you urinate? Is it urgent? Is there any blood?"

"no."

He answered the first few questions quickly, but when asked about urination, his eyes glanced at the girl first.

Lin Ye glanced at him and lowered his voice.

"Is there any swelling in your groin or scrotum? Has your testicle suddenly started to hurt on one side?"

Tao Ziang's ears turned red instantly.

The girl, holding her helmet, turned her face away, pretending to look at the call number screen.

"No," Tao Zi'ang said in a low voice, "really no."

Nurse Zhu glanced at the machine.

"12876, heart rate 96, blood oxygen 99, body temperature 36. Respiration 18."

People were craning their necks to look over the waiting chairs.

"You're asking about this because you have lower right abdominal pain?"

Nurse Zhu didn't even look up.

"If you're in pain too, ask later. Now sit properly so you don't block the view of those holding children behind you."

The man shrank back.

Upon hearing "thirty-six nine", Tao Ziang slumped his shoulders back in his chair.

"It should be nothing serious, right? Could you prescribe some medicine for me? I need to go back to the shop and lie down for a while. I really can't leave today."

The girl was so angry that she lightly bumped his arm with her helmet.

"Are you going back?"

"If I don't finish fixing it, those guys will block the door first thing tomorrow morning."

Lin Ye looked at him.

"Did you take any medication before coming to the hospital?"

Tao Ziang did not speak immediately.

The girl was the first to react.

"Did you take your medicine?"

"Just... one painkiller." Tao Ziang's voice lowered. "It was given to me by Xiao Li next door. He said he'd taken it when he had a toothache. I just wanted to use it temporarily; I didn't think much of it."

"What's the name of the medicine?"

"I don't know. He had already plucked it out when he gave it to me."

The girl immediately reached for her phone.

"I asked him to take a picture of the medicine box."

"What time did you eat?"

"It's probably around 5:30."

Ma Hao glanced at his work clothes.

"Bro, you know to check the model number before fixing a phone, but you just plugged in whatever you wanted to take your medicine?"

Tao Zi'ang was speechless.

"I didn't expect it to hurt more and more."

The review form was still on the corner of the table. Ma Hao had already moved his pen over and looked up to wait for Lin Ye to nod.

Lin Ye held down the triage slip, preventing him from taking out the form.

Nurse Zhu lowered her voice.

"Should we submit the form first?"

Lin Ye shook his head.

"Don't mention it yet. He hasn't reached the red zone yet, but he can't leave. He'll stay here and see how things develop."

Upon hearing "people can't walk," Tao Zi'ang immediately looked up.

"I'm not riding a bike. I'm just going back to get a charger and let the boss know."

The girl took the car keys out of his pocket and stuffed them into her bag.

"Boss, I'll buy the charger. You can sit down."

Tao Ziang's lips moved, but he didn't say anything to her.

Lin Ye handed the triage slip to Ma Hao.

"Write down the follow-up questions after half an hour. Retake the temperature, ask if the right side is more painful, and if there is nausea or vomiting."

He paused, then added, "After the doctor presses on the abdomen, check for tenderness, rebound tenderness, and whether the abdomen is hard or not, also check the back."

Ma Hao picked up a pen.

"What about blood and urine tests?"

"Wait until the doctor finishes seeing you in the clinic before prescribing the medicine." Lin Ye looked at Tao Ziang. "After you send us a picture of the medicine box, remember to show it to us first."

Tao Ziang nodded.

The girl was still sending voice messages to people in the shop next door.

"Xiao Li, take a picture of the medicine box you just gave Zi'ang, both the front and the back. Hurry, he's in the hospital."

She sent the voice message, but before she could put down her phone, she looked up again.

"Can he drink water?"

"Don't eat anything yet, and drink as little water as possible. If you're really thirsty, tell the nurse, and we'll decide after the doctor has examined you."

The girl hummed in agreement, but her hand was still gripping her phone, as if she would run away if she let go.

An examination bed was quickly made available in the examination room.

When Tao Ziang went in, he tried to climb up by himself, but Nurse Zhu reminded him at the door.

"Slow down. If it hurts, just say so. Don't try to be tough."

"I'm not trying to be strong."

"Then you shouldn't risk your life for your boss."

After the curtain was drawn, the doctor on duty inside told him to relax his abdominal muscles. His voice was not loud, and it could only be heard intermittently through the curtain.

"It hurts on your right side, right? Let go, it's better now, but don't strain your stomach."

There was a pause inside the curtain.

The on-duty doctor pulled the curtain open a crack.

"Send the blood and urine tests first. If the pain gets worse or you feel nauseous, call me immediately."

Ma Hao added these sentences to the back of the triage slip.

Tao Ziang got off the examination bed, his forehead covered in sweat. The girl helped him back to his chair, and this time he didn't argue.

Qin Hai came over from the observation area, still holding the IV reaction record sheet in his hand.

He paused for a moment when he saw Tao Ziang's sitting posture.

"This lower right abdomen?"

Nurse Zhu handed over the triage slip.

"I just checked. It hurts when I press on his right side, but the rebound isn't severe. Let's keep him here for half an hour, don't let him leave."

Qin Hai looked up.

Lin Ye flipped the triage slip to the back.

"Don't fill it out yet. His blood pressure and temperature are still normal. The doctor just touched him, and his stomach didn't tense up when touched."

He pointed to the line "around the navel, then turn to the lower right".

"But the pain has changed. Before coming here, I took a painkiller of unknown name, and I've been in a hurry to leave. The doctor has already seen me, so we'll stay here and wait for the blood and urine tests. If I vomit, get a fever, or my right side gets worse in less than half an hour, we'll have the doctor see me again immediately."

Qin Hai didn't ask any further questions and returned the triage slip.

"Okay. Don't rush to write down the diagnosis."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Tao Ziang again.

"Give her the helmet. Don't ride your bike tonight, and don't go out to buy medicine by yourself."

Before Tao Ziang could speak, the girl had already hugged the helmet tightly.

"He can't ride it. I have the key too."

"Sit there, but don't sit too far away from us, and don't go to the toilet by yourself."

Nurse Zhu pointed to the nurses' station.

"If you feel nauseous or in pain, just call us."

Tao Ziang was still looking at his phone when he sat down.

The store's group chat message popped up.

He stared at it for a few seconds, then finally left the group chat.

The girl was typing with her head down.

"I told the boss you were in the hospital. Don't glare at me. I haven't even settled the score with you for the last time you had a fever and still insisted on staying. It's better to hand over your phone later than to faint in the shop from the pain."

Tao Ziang didn't say anything, just placed his phone face down on his knee.

Ma Hao clipped the triage slip onto the transparent board and set an alarm on his phone.

"Half an hour, ringtone at maximum volume."

As Nurse Zhu passed by, she casually pushed his phone into the table.

"Don't put it there. If it falls, you'll say the alarm clock jumped off the building by itself."

"Sister Zhu, aren't you being a little too trusting of me?"

Nurse Zhu glanced at the triage slip.

"First, write the person's name correctly. Tao Zi'ang, not Tao Zi'ang ang."

Ma Hao looked down and quickly crossed out the extra word.

"Typo."

"A slip of the tongue, a slip of the hand, a slip of the brain—you've been quite busy tonight."

Before the time for the follow-up question was up, the girl suddenly looked up.

"doctor."

Her voice wasn't loud, but Ma Hao immediately looked over.

Tao Ziang pressed one hand against his lower right abdomen, his lips were tightly pursed, and a layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

The girl held his arm, and her voice immediately softened.

He said he felt a little nauseous. His right side hurt more than before.

Ma Hao looked down at his phone.

There are nine minutes left until half an hour.

Lin Ye pushed his chair back and stood up.