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

Zhou Min lifted the curtain of the treatment area and walked over.

Lin Ye had already stopped recording on the page about the injury mechanism and vision: "High-speed metallic foreign object, right eye vision is worse than left eye. No obvious wounds are visible at the moment, and the pupil shape is still normal, but we cannot rule out internal damage. I plan to put on a hard eye shield for protection, temporarily withhold food and water, and call for an emergency ophthalmology consultation."

"Let's go this way for now."

She stood to the patient's right, had him put his hands on his lap, and only used the flashlight to look at his pupils and the appearance of his front eyes.

"Currently, there are no signs of critical condition such as wound dehiscence or pupil displacement." She put away her flashlight. "But we can't just look outside. Lin Ye, call a consultation. Jiang Wen, protect your eyes first."

Lin Ye sat back down at the workstation, first entering the information about temporarily abstaining from food and water, and then selecting "urgent" as the consultation level.

The application form clearly states the manner of the injury, the injured eye, changes in vision, and any issues that need to be ruled out.

After submitting, a message popped up in the upper right corner of the page saying "Specialist notified." He then dialed the ophthalmology on-call number and reported the location of the clinic area.

Upon hearing the words "no food and no water," the patient tucked the canvas tool bag beside him further inside: "I can't even drink water? I was in a rush to leave this morning, so I only ate two steamed buns."

"Bear with it for a bit." Lin Ye turned around. "This is just preparation. If the wound is discovered, it might need treatment later, and it won't be enough time to make you fast now. I'll let you know if you can eat after the ophthalmologist's visit and the test results."

"Then I'll tell Da Liu to make sure that lunchbox doesn't go bad."

He was sending a message to the class monitor with his left hand when his right eye hurt, and he made several mistakes in the words he typed.

After deleting it twice, he simply pressed the voice button: "Da Liu, you can take your lunch with you. I still need to check this."

As soon as the voice message was sent, the other end replied, "Understood, you can focus on your checkup."

Jiang Wen took the disposable hard eye mask out of the packaging.

A semi-transparent cover arched in front of my eyes, its edges resting around the eye sockets without touching my eyeballs.

When she secured the tape, she deliberately avoided the eyelashes and then looked down to check how tight it was.

"Is it tight or not?"

"It's not tight, it's just that I can't see the right side for a bit, and it takes some getting used to."

"There is a blind spot when using one eye."

Jiang Wen put the goggles on his lap into the outer pocket of his tool bag.

"If you need to go somewhere, ask someone to guide you; don't just run into a doorframe yourself."

The ophthalmologist on duty arrived quickly.

She first reviewed the patient's medical history and vision in the workstation, then went to the patient to confirm the injured eye and performed a non-pressure visual examination.

"Relying solely on visual inspection is far from sufficient."

She straightened up. "For metal shavings that come in at this speed, we'll do a thin-section CT scan of the eye socket first. We'll check for any high-density foreign objects and also examine the shape of the eyeball."

The patient turned his face through the blindfold: "Are you going to pat my head?"

"We'll mainly scan the eye sockets, it'll be quick," Lin Ye continued. "This is a CT scan, and we haven't ruled out metal fragments yet, so we can't do an MRI. During the scan, lie down as instructed, don't rub your eyes, and don't remove the eye patch yourself."

"Can I even take photos wearing this?"

"Go to the examination bed and listen to the staff's instructions. If your eye mask needs to be moved, they will call the medical staff to handle it; you don't need to do it yourself."

The ophthalmologist looked at Lin Ye: "You write the prescription, and contact me as soon as the results are available. Don't measure the intraocular pressure yet, and don't force your upper eyelids open. We'll use the slit lamp when the scans come back."

"it is good."

Lin Ye ordered a thin-section CT scan of his eye socket under his own account, completed the application materials, signed and submitted it.

The printer dispensed an examination guide, which he handed to Jiang Wen: "Could you please have a caregiver push him over there?"

The caregiver brought a wheelchair, and Lin Ye helped the patient sit down. He then added protective eye protection, temporary fasting and water restriction, ophthalmological consultation opinions, and the patient's condition before the transfer for examination to the medical record.

He then called the radiology department, explaining that it was a high-speed metal foreign body injury and that the ophthalmologist needed to see thin-layer images.

The radiology department verified the patient's name and the area being examined, and then asked if the patient could lie flat.

Lin Ye glanced at the man who had been pushed to the door: "He's conscious and cooperative, and his right eye is protected with a hard eye patch. Don't let him remove it himself when we get there; contact the clinic directly if needed."

The other party agreed, and the wheelchair was then pushed out the door by the caregiver.

After the patient was wheeled away, the call number screen lit up twice more.

Lin Ye had just finished picking up a student with a sprained ankle and printed out the discharge instructions when a video notification popped up in the lower right corner of the workstation.

The patient was also brought back by the caregiver.

As he entered, he was quietly explaining that his leg was not injured and that he did not need to use a wheelchair.

The caregiver stepped on the brakes: "You have a blind spot right now. There are many people and clutter in the corridor. If you bump into something, it could easily worsen your eye injury. It's safer to be on the safe side."

The man sat there, holding a toolbox in his left hand.

Something vibrated twice in his bag. After reading the unread messages without replying, he immediately looked up at Lin Ye: "Doctor, are the scans ready yet?"

"Just arrived, I'm looking at it."

He clicked on the image and scrolled down layer by layer.

I didn't see any bright, metallic shadows inside my right eyeball.

Lin Ye picked up the phone and dialed the ophthalmologist on duty.

"The scans have arrived. I don't see any obvious high-density foreign objects inside the eye, and the eyeball outline doesn't appear abnormal either. Could you please come back to confirm?"

The ophthalmologist returned to his workstation just as the official report was being sent in.

She flipped through several sets of thin-layer images and then opened the soft tissue window to take another look.

"No obvious metal shavings were found on the scan, and there were no obvious abnormalities in the shape of the eyeball." She released the mouse. "This is good news, but we can't stop here based on the scan alone; we still need to examine the surface."

The patient's shoulders, which had been taut, relaxed a little: "So, does that mean I don't need to be hospitalized?"

The ophthalmologist pointed to the hard eye patch on his right eye.

"A CT scan examines the inside of the eyeball and its overall shape. Since you're still in pain and sensitive to light, we need to examine the surface of your eye for foreign objects and the location of corneal damage under a slit lamp."

"Do we need to administer anything else later?"

"During the examination, we may use a staining solution to make the wound clear. Only after the examination can we determine the next steps."

The man opened the message he hadn't replied to earlier.

On the screen was his wife asking if he would be home for dinner that night. He typed slowly with one hand, and it took him a long time to type before sending it.

Something got into my eye, and I'm at the hospital. A CT scan showed no residue, but another test is needed.

The message had barely been sent when his wife called.

He stared at the caller ID, then lowered his voice: "I'm not lying to you. The doctor will only let me leave if everything is really alright. I haven't left yet. We'll talk about the goggles when we get back. Don't yell at me yet; the doctor is listening here."

The person on the other end of the phone spoke quickly and urgently. He moved the phone away a little and waited for the other person to stop before adding, "I understand. Even if it's the last time I have to cut, I won't remove it."

After Lin Ye hung up the phone, he pointed towards the slit lamp and said, "Just remember the lesson. Focus on finishing the rest of the examinations first."

"I've got it."

The man stuffed his phone into his bag.

Lin Ye recorded the imaging findings in the medical record and checked again that the pain in his right eye had not suddenly worsened, and there were no new dark shadows or nausea.

The ophthalmologist adjusted the chin rest of the slit lamp and beckoned to the patient.

"Place your chin on it, and press your forehead firmly against it." She patted the support. "Now let's see exactly where the cornea is damaged."