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

On Thursday afternoon around 3 p.m., Ma Hao took the last withdrawal evaluation sheet and went up to the third floor from the temporary liaison office.

The teacher in charge of recording checked the signatures on the evaluation of the withdrawal, put the evaluation into the materials bag, and then took a transparent folder from the cabinet and placed it in front of him: "Don't leave yet."

After Liu Zhenhua entered the room, he pushed the results notification sheet next to the folder.

Both the defense and the withdrawal evaluation were checked, and the bottom column only had six words: Supplementary observation for four weeks.

"You can keep up with the initial steps of taking medical history and conducting physical examinations," Liu Zhenhua said, tapping the column with his pen cap. "But when things get busy, the second half gets lost. Review, handover, discharge records—if a section is missing, someone else has to catch up and fill it in."

Ma Hao looked at those words for a while: "We have to observe for another month?"

"Four weeks, only one evaluation. The supervising teacher will oversee it, and you must complete all three cases yourself; missing even one won't count."

"Does it all have to start with triage?"

"No need. You can take it from anyone." Liu Zhenhua put the pen back on the table.

The teacher from the Science and Education Department next to me turned over the signature page: "The theoretical exam and rotation review will proceed as usual. Making up these four weeks won't affect your participation in those two exams; during this period, you will still be in residency training status and will not be placed in a separate schedule."

Ma Hao signed his name.

He held down the two sheets of paper and asked again, "Is Xiaoye still teaching today?"

"5:30." Liu Zhenhua pushed the notification form, evaluation form, and transparent folder over together. "They didn't say you had to go back to your dorm and lie there for a month."

Ma Hao stuffed two pieces of paper into a folder: "I really want that bed in the dorm."

When he returned to the temporary liaison office on the first floor, Song Lan was standing next to him checking the last handover form.

Song Lan turned the page: "We've also found Zhou Jian from Anhe Health. He's in a neighboring city, and his current itinerary doesn't include a visit to the First Municipal Hospital. We'll continue verifying the remaining cases in the relevant jurisdictions."

Ma Hao, holding the materials, asked, "So, I'm not involved here anymore?"

"That's all. Don't be late for 5:30."

The logistics staff picked up the phone and cable, and the last table in the office was empty.

Ma Hao went back to his dormitory and lay down until five o'clock. After the alarm rang, he packed the materials into his backpack.

Around 5:20, he arrived at the emergency room, put on a white coat, took out a folder from his backpack, and pulled out the information sheet.

Lin Ye was checking the observation records next to the work station when he turned around and saw it.

"how long?"

"Four weeks. Three cases, only one assessment at the end of the term."

Lin Ye closed the medical record in his hand: "You can still owe that meal."

"Your concise way of comforting me is quite succinct."

"If I say more, you'll just find it annoying."

Ma Hao placed the notification sheet and folder on the table: "Okay, you have a good memory."

When Qin Hai returned from the observation area, he reached out to Ma Hao: "Give me some paper."

After reading the supplementary assessment requirements, he handed the notification form back and pulled out the medical record book for bed six from the shelf.

"Zhang Ruiping, 42 years old, has acute gastroenteritis with mild dehydration. His IV fluids just finished, and his electrolytes haven't returned yet. You'll start now."

Ma Hao tucked the medical record under his arm: "Are we starting now?"

"How about I pick one that's obedient for you first?"

The needle in bed six has been removed.

Zhang Ruiping sat on the edge of the bed pressing cotton swabs, his phone screen lit up. His wife had sent him three messages in a row, asking if he should turn off the heat before putting the porridge on.

"I'm really fine now." Zhang Ruiping placed her phone face down on the bedside table. "The porridge at home is already cooking, how much longer do we have to wait?"

"Don't put on your coat yet. The last test results aren't out yet; let me check them one more time."

Ma Hao asked him if he vomited after receiving the IV fluids.

Zhang Ruiping shook his head and said that he hadn't had any more diarrhea. He had gone to the toilet once earlier and urinated. He wasn't dizzy when he got up, but his belly button area still felt slightly sore.

Ma Hao gave him a few sips of water, waited a while, and then had him lie back on the bed to have his abdomen checked.

There was no fixed tenderness in the lower right abdomen, and the abdominal muscles were not tight.

Jiang Wen recorded the vital signs that had just been retested on the observation sheet: heart rate of 88 beats per minute and blood pressure stable, down from the 108 beats per minute when she arrived.

Ma Hao returned to the workstation, wrote down the symptoms, water intake and urination, and abdominal examination in the medical record, and finally added a line: 6:10 PM re-evaluation.

He also told Zhang Ruiping the time: "I'll come back at 6:10. If you vomit again, your stomach hurts more, or you need to go to the toilet and can't stand up, just call for help. Don't walk by yourself."

Zhang Ruiping sat up straight and sent a voice message to his wife: "Turn the heat down a bit, the doctor needs to check on me again. It's not that I don't want to reply."

A few minutes before 6:10, the sound of bed wheels suddenly came from the emergency room entrance.

The flatbed cart that had just arrived was stuck at the threshold. Jiang Wenteng didn't make a move, but called out to those inside.

The person on the flatbed had their eyes closed, and no matter how much you called out to them, they only groaned.

Two family members squeezed in together; one was carrying a bag of medicine, and the other was still making a phone call to a relative.

Jiang Wen held onto the bed railing with one hand and stopped people with the other: "Don't all come in yet, leave the doorway clear."

Qin Hai was already walking towards the door: "Ma Hao, come with me to pick them up."

Ma Hao grabbed the stethoscope and followed him out.

Upon reaching the stretcher, Qin Hai first bent down and called the patient's name, then had Ma Hao connect the monitor and measure the bedside blood sugar. He then asked when the patient last spoke consciously.

The two family members answered in quick succession, with a time difference of almost half an hour.

Ma Hao had no choice but to separate the people and start asking questions again from the beginning.

At 6:17, Lin Ye returned from the treatment room and saw Zhang Ruiping already wearing a coat, standing by the nurses' station waiting for someone.

"Dr. Ma said to check again at 6:10." Zhang Ruiping pointed to the clock on the wall. "It's already 6:17 now. Did he forget because he was busy? The last item on my phone still shows 'testing in progress'."

Lin Ye took him back to bed six, first asking if he had vomited again and if he felt dizzy when he stood up, then made him sit down: "We haven't had a follow-up evaluation yet, so don't walk by yourself."

After the bedside blood glucose and monitoring were connected, Qin Hai stayed by the stretcher and told Ma Hao to go back and hand over the beds he was in charge of.

Ma Hao took off his gloves, finished hand hygiene, and had just walked to the workstation when Lin Ye handed him the medical record.

"Patient in bed six was supposed to have his re-evaluation at 6:10, and it's 6:17 now. He was just waiting for you at the nurses' station."

Have you seen it?

"I asked them a couple of questions and brought them back. I didn't write a record for you."

Ma Hao took the medical record back to bed number six.

"Sorry, someone came by earlier and couldn't be woken up. I should have told you before I left."

Zhang Ruiping took off her coat, which she had only half-wearing: "It's nothing, it's nothing. I was just waiting for no one to come, and I was feeling uneasy, not knowing who to ask."

Ma Hao asked about the symptoms again as part of the reassessment and examined the abdomen once more.

Zhang Ruiping stopped vomiting and had diarrhea. The water she drank didn't make her feel nauseous. She still felt the same discomfort around her navel, but her lower right abdomen didn't hurt, and her abdomen didn't feel tight.

The testing status on the workstation was updated at this moment, and the electrolyte column changed from "under testing" to "results available". Neither sodium nor potassium showed any abnormalities.

After another doctor on duty in the emergency room took over the patient on the stretcher, Qin Hai went to bed six to re-examine the abdomen and nodded to Zhang Ruiping to end the observation period.

"You can drink porridge, but don't drink too much. Just drink half a bowl first." Ma Hao repeated the reasons why he had to go back to the emergency room. "If you vomit so much that you can't drink water, your urine output decreases significantly, there is blood in your stool, or your stomach pain gets worse, don't wait at home."

Zhang Ruiping looked down and sent a voice message to his wife: "Put half a bowl in first, don't put the meat in."

After everyone left, Ma Hao finished completing the re-evaluation and discharge records, took out the assessment form from the folder next to the computer, and handed it to Qin Hai along with the medical records.

Qin Hai first signed his name in the teaching column of the medical record. Just as the pen tip moved to the first cell of the assessment form, Ma Hao pulled the form back half an inch.

"Teacher Qin, let's not sign this case yet."

Qin Hai stopped writing.

"I wasn't there at 6:10, and I didn't tell anyone. Everyone had gone to the nurses' station; Lin Ye brought them back."

"If this cell is empty, you are still three cases short."

"I know."

Qin Hai tucked the pen back into his chest and pushed the signed medical record towards him.

Ma Hao put the medical record back on the shelf and tucked the empty first compartment of the assessment form back into the folder. Jiang Wen then handed him the medical record from another bed. He took it, first noticing the time the previous record stopped at, before walking to the bedside.

(Taking a day off, not feeling well. Will make it up tomorrow...)