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

Just as Ma Hao pulled his hand back from the edge of the box, Nurse Zhao turned around and called out, "What are you standing there for? Give me a hand."

Ma Hao quickly responded, ran all the way from the small rest room to the nurses' station, grabbed two IV patches and a disposable diaper pad, and then walked into the observation area.

The old man in bed 3 complained that the IV drip was too slow, so his son, who was accompanying him, secretly turned the speed control wheel to the maximum when the nurse wasn't looking. In less than ten minutes, the old man complained that the injection site was swollen and painful, and a lump the size of a quail egg swelled up on the back of his hand.

"Are you complaining that the old man is recovering too quickly?" Nurse Zhao's hands didn't stop moving as she turned off the IV, removed the needle, and pressed the cotton swab, her movements were very efficient.

"If you administer this vasodilator too quickly, it will cause headaches and palpitations, making you even busier. You can't risk your elderly relative's health just to go home early."

The son scratched his head and smiled apologetically.

"I'll never dare to touch it again."

Ma Hao helped the elderly woman put a soft pillow under her arm and placed a diaper pad at the foot of the bed in case she needed to get up to use the restroom. After Nurse Zhao re-inserted the needle and adjusted the drip rate, the two of them returned to the triage station one after the other.

The little boy leaned against his mother's chest, looking listless and dispirited.

The mother dipped a sterile cotton swab in warm water and moistened his chapped lips every two minutes. She hadn't dared to feed him a drop of water or a bite of food since the observation period ended. When she heard his stomach rumbling, she gently patted his back to comfort him.

The child's father sat on a hard plastic chair by the bed, glancing up at the emergency room door every two minutes.

Lin Ye walked over with the temperature gun and scanned the child's forehead. The temperature was 36.7 degrees Celsius, normal. He gently pressed the child's soft belly, and when he touched the area around the navel, the child frowned and snuggled closer to his mother.

"Do you feel nauseous?" Lin Ye asked.

The child shook his head and buried his face in his mother's collar.

"Keep observing. If you feel nauseous or experience severe pain, press the bell to call us." Lin Ye signed the observation record and had just turned around when he heard hurried footsteps coming from the emergency room entrance.

The neighboring couple led two little boys wearing matching jackets in. The one in front kept rubbing his stomach and holding half a rice cake in his other hand. The other boy was jumping around and holding a toy car.

"Doctor!" The neighbor's mother's voice was a little breathless, and her forehead was covered in sweat. "We brought both of our children here. This afternoon, they played with that box of beads with this kid from your neighborhood. We were getting more and more worried at home, so we decided to bring them both for an X-ray. It would be best if everything was alright."

The child's father jumped up from his chair, his face flushed red. He walked over to the neighboring couple and said in a low voice, "Brother, sister-in-law, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching the child properly this afternoon while watching the game."

The neighbor's father patted his arm, glanced at the listless little boy on the bed, and waved his hand: "Why talk about this now? Let's get the child checked out first. It's best if he's okay."

Hearing the commotion, Qin Hai came out of the examination room: "How are the two children now? Have they complained of stomach aches or vomited?"

The neighbor mother quickly pulled the child walking ahead closer to her: "The eldest said his stomach was bloated twice on the way, but he didn't vomit or cry. I'm just getting more and more scared. The second one is lively and energetic, but they both touched that box of beads this afternoon, so I didn't dare bring just one of them."

"Both need open abdominal X-rays, prioritize them." Qin Hai signed the application form and handed it to Lin Ye. "Find out the time of the last meal, whether there was any vomiting, abdominal pain, or bloody stool, and remember it."

"Okay." Lin Ye took the application form, took out his notebook, and asked about the two children's situations one by one and wrote them down.

Ma Hao had already moved closer, pulled out two remaining Ultraman stickers from his pocket and waved them: "Come on, I'll take you guys to take pictures of the glowing Superman. Just stand there for a bit, it won't hurt. I'll put the stickers on the back of your hands after the pictures are taken."

The two children were attracted by the stickers and obediently walked towards the radiology department, holding Ma Hao's hand.

While waiting for the X-ray, the two fathers stood at the entrance of the emergency room. The child's father offered a cigarette to the neighbor, who took it and tucked it behind his ear. Neither of them lit it, and no one said a word for a long time.

Twenty minutes later, the twins' X-rays came out. Qin Hai and Dr. Zhang from the pediatrics department looked at them together under the viewing light. No obvious foreign objects were seen on either child's X-ray.

The neighboring couple visibly breathed a sigh of relief. The neighbor's mother stroked the heads of her two children, finally relaxing after being tense for so long.

The child's parents were even more anxious.

There were no beads in the twins' bellies, and none in the strawberries they spat out. Where did the missing bead go?

Dr. Zhang didn't rush to remove the films. He frowned and pointed to a bright spot on the little boy's X-ray: "No, Lao Qin, look at this one. The edge is blurrier than the other two, and it looks a bit thicker. Could it be two that are stacked together? The X-ray shows overlap from front to back, so it looks like one."

Qin Hai leaned closer and stared at it for half a minute, then nodded: "Possibly. Let's talk to the radiology department and get a lateral view taken to check the anteroposterior view."

Lin Ye led the child to have a lateral radiograph taken. The radiology staff helped position the child, and the child's mother stood beside her, comforting her.

Ten minutes later, the lateral view film was hung on the viewing light. The bright shadow that looked like one on the orthogonal view film split into two round shadows on the lateral view film. Together with the other two films, there were exactly four films.

Four, all inside the baby's belly!!!!!

The child's mother covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She dared not cry out loud for fear of frightening the child in her arms. Her shoulders trembled, and she held the child's little hand tightly with her other hand.

The neighbor's mother also hugged her two children closer, her lips pressed tightly together. She had also thought that her child had swallowed it, and the lingering fear after the false alarm, mixed with her worry for the child in bed, made her feel flustered.

The child's father held onto the back of the chair next to him. He had previously thought that the beads might have rolled under the sofa or been thrown into some corner by the child. He never expected that all four beads were in his son's belly.

Qin Hai removed the X-ray and explained the condition to the family: "We have now confirmed that there are four magnetic beads, all in the intestines. Continue to observe them, and keep them on a no-food and no-water diet. We will take another X-ray in two hours to see if they have moved down. We will come back regularly to check the abdominal signs. If the child's pain worsens, or if they vomit or have blood in their stool, ring the bell immediately to call the doctor. I am now calling for an emergency consultation with the general surgery department. Let them review the X-ray together."

He turned to the neighboring couple and said, "No foreign objects were seen on the two children's X-rays. They can stay in the emergency room for half an hour for observation. If they feel fine, they can go home. Put away all the small beads and parts at home and don't let young children play with them."

"Okay, thank you, doctor, thank you, doctor." The parents agreed repeatedly. At least now they knew where all the beads were, and they didn't have to guess like headless flies like before.

Lin Ye helped complete the observation record, checked the time for the next follow-up photoshoot, and wrote the words "No food or water" on the bedside sign. When the child's mother saw those words, she slowly put the paper cup back on the bedside table.

The little boy licked his lips, his voice soft and hoarse: "Mommy, I want some water."

The child's mother's eyes welled up with tears again. She dipped a cotton swab in warm water and gently wiped his lips. "Bear with it for now. The doctor said you can't drink it. Let Mom moisten your lips."

Nurse Zhao walked by and casually moved the sign to a more prominent position by the bedside: "Keep an eye on things at home, and don't let anyone feel sorry for feeding the baby."

Not long after, Dr. Liu, the general surgery doctor on duty, came over with a bag of smears.

Qin Hai hung the viewing lights on the anteroposterior and lateral views one after the other, and Dr. Zhang stood beside him, first describing the abdominal signs observed during the follow-up examination.

After examining the scans, Dr. Liu went to the bedside, warmed his hands by rubbing them together, and pressed them against the child's stomach.

"There are no signs of acute abdomen right now." Dr. Liu straightened up and pointed to several round shadows on the X-ray light. "They've already passed the stomach and are in the intestines, so the endoscope can't reach them directly. We'll follow your plan and keep them under close observation for repeat imaging. I'll leave my phone number here, and you can call me when the images come out in two hours so we can review them together. If the pain worsens, the abdominal distension becomes significant, or there's vomiting or blood in the stool, don't wait for the repeat imaging; call me immediately."

Qin Hai nodded: "Okay."

The child's father stood beside him, his lips moved as if he wanted to ask but didn't dare.

Dr. Liu glanced at him: "There's no need for immediate surgery. There's no worsening pain, no vomiting, and no blood in the stool. We'll observe him in the hospital for now, and then take an X-ray in two hours to see if the bead continues to move further down the intestines. If the bead doesn't move, or if the child's abdominal pain gets worse, or he starts vomiting or having bloody stools, then we can't observe him any longer. We'll have to treat it as a surgical case, and surgery may be necessary."

After saying this, the child's father lowered his head and wiped his eyes with his hand.

Before leaving, the neighbor father whispered to the child's father, "Don't keep blaming yourself. Just take good care of the child."

The child's father nodded, unable to speak, and just kept getting the child to the emergency room entrance.

Ma Hao glanced at the little boy on the bed, then at the film on the projector light, and muttered to himself, "We've found all four, but it's still not easy."

"Because finding it doesn't mean it's safe." Qin Hai took the film off the viewing light, put it back in the film bag, and casually tapped the small notebook in Ma Hao's hand. "Next week is the defense. If anyone says this is 'the numbers match, just wait to pull it out,' you take him to this bed."

Ma Hao immediately shut up and wrote down the sentence.

Qin Hai's gaze then shifted to Lin Ye.

"Would you dare say that on the spot?"