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

Lin Ye led the family members to the payment window.

After the payment slip was printed, Lin Ye took out the folded triage slip from his pocket and handed it over, pointing in the direction of the radiology department: "Go this way, and bring the films back to me when they come out."

After giving his instructions, he returned to the triage desk to organize the observation registration book he had just received.

Just as he turned to the record page for bed 3, Ma Hao ran back from the direction of the surgical building, carrying two bottles of iced cola, the bottles covered with a dense layer of water droplets.

"It's already been handed over to the nurses' station. Old Wang is still on the operating table and hasn't come off the operating table yet. We'll talk about it after he's finished examining it."

He handed Lin Ye a bottle of cola, then unscrewed his own and took a big gulp.

Just as I was about to ask about the child with the magnetic beads, I saw the man walking back from the other end of the corridor with film in his hand, the child's mother following beside him with the child in her arms.

Lin Ye took the film from the man, walked to the film light, and clipped the film onto it.

When the light shines through, three circular high-density shadows can be seen in the mid-abdomen of the intestinal projection area, with clear edges and a small distance between them.

"You can see three on the screen now."

Lin Ye pointed to the blank space next to one of the coins.

"We counted four beads before, and the whereabouts of the missing one is still unknown. We can't just treat it as if the child ate a small toy. These are magnetic beads. If one gets stuck in different parts of the intestine, they can be attracted to each other through the intestinal wall, which can easily cause them to get stuck and compress the intestinal wall. We need to wait for a pediatrician to come and check."

He had just finished speaking when the phone at the triage desk rang.

Nurse Zhu listened for a couple of minutes, then looked up and called out, "The official radiology report shows three round, high-density shadows projected onto the mid-abdomen intestinal region. Considering the patient's history, we suspect a foreign body in the digestive tract and recommend a follow-up examination if necessary."

"He vomited up strawberries he ate this afternoon, I didn't see anything hard," the child's father quickly added.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Hai and Dr. Zhang, who was on duty in the pediatrics department, came out of the consultation room.

Dr. Zhang held the duty logbook in his hand. The two walked to the film viewing light and watched the film again.

Dr. Zhang squatted down, warmed his hands by rubbing them together, and gently pressed on the child's stomach. When he pressed around the navel, the child frowned, whimpered twice, but didn't cry.

"His abdomen is soft now, and there are no signs of acute abdomen." Dr. Zhang looked up and exchanged a glance with Qin Hai. "The three are not far apart, but one is indeed missing. It's possible that it wasn't swallowed and fell at home, or it could have been mixed with the others and couldn't be distinguished on the scan. We can't be careless."

The child's father then came over and said, "Doctor, I called the twins from next door, and they're on their way to the hospital now. They'll get an X-ray to put their minds at ease. They said the child hasn't complained of pain or vomited."

Qin Hai nodded and looked at the family members: "Let's put the child under observation first. We'll take another abdominal X-ray in two hours. From now on, the child must not eat or drink anything."

"The pediatrics department has arranged for someone to monitor the abdominal signs regularly. I've also informed the general surgery department so they can come for a consultation if necessary. If the child's pain worsens, or if they vomit or have bloody stools, we'll handle it immediately."

"We can't leave until the numbers match."

"Okay, we'll follow your arrangements." The couple quickly nodded.

Nurse Zhu had already pulled out the observation registration form. She bent down to ask the child's name and then told the man to leave the box of magnetic beads in the bag as well, so the child wouldn't have to play with it again. The child's mother sat down at the entrance of the observation area with her child in her arms. The little boy, exhausted from crying, leaned on her shoulder and slumped, his hand occasionally rubbing against his mouth.

The man clenched his fist, looked down at the child nestled on his mother's shoulder, and his Adam's apple bobbed. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't watched that game this afternoon and had just kept an eye on them playing, I wouldn't be in this situation where I don't even know where the missing one is."

The child's mother didn't scold him; she just hugged the child tighter, her eyes red.

Lin Ye put the film back into the film bag and lowered his voice: "Let's not blame each other for now. We've already taken three shots; we still need to find the source of the last one. As for those two children you contacted earlier, let the pediatrician take a look at them when they arrive."

Just then, the elevator door rang with a "ding".

Nurse Zhao came out carrying a dark blue insulated box, her hair neatly combed.

She first went into the nurses' station, locked her bag in the locker, and checked the handover records with Nurse Zhu item by item.

He then turned to check the seal on the ambulance by the wall, marked the date on the seal with a pen, and checked the bed number with Nurse Zhu again.

"The IV drip in bed 3 will be finished in half an hour. Bed 4 just received fever reducer, and the temperature has come down." Nurse Zhu handed over the shift to her while taking off her nurse's uniform. "The child who swallowed the magnetic beads that we just admitted, Director Qin has already arranged for a follow-up X-ray in two hours, so we need to keep an eye on him."

"understood."

Nurse Zhao responded, checked the seal and signed it, then took out an insulated box from the cabinet and went into the small rest room behind the nurses' station—where everyone usually heats up their meals and puts their lunch boxes.

She placed the insulated box on the folding table, opened the lid, and the aroma of braised beef wafted out through the half-open door, overpowering the half-smelling disinfectant in the corridor.

"My mother-in-law made this braised food this afternoon. She cut up a whole lunchbox full. It's fresh out of the pot. You two can come over and have a bite after you're done with this. If you get hungry later in the night, you can heat it up yourself."

Ma Hao's eyes lit up immediately. He stuffed the notebook into his white coat pocket, rubbed his hands together, and headed towards the break room: "My dear sister, I've been waiting for this all afternoon! I want the one with the tendons!"

Just as he reached for the lunchbox, the call bell for ward 3 in the observation area rang, and the signboard flashed bright red.

"Alright, let's get to work." Nurse Zhao took off her disposable gloves, grabbed the IV tray, and headed towards the observation area. "I'll leave the beef here; it'll get cold. I have a microwave over there, so it won't run away."

The aroma of braised beef still lingered in the air, mixed with the smell of disinfectant and the scent of crayfish that the deliveryman had just brought from the end of the corridor.

Lin Ye put his hands back in his pockets, still wondering where the missing one was.