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

Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, a man came to the triage desk, one hand pressing around his navel and the other hand supporting himself against the wall, unable to straighten up for a long time.

"It started hurting here this morning." He moved his hand to his lower right abdomen, still sweating from his face. "It just suddenly came over here. Even coughing hurts."

Lin Ye asked if the person felt nauseous, had not defecated, and when was the last time they ate. He then helped the person lie down on the examination bed.

Body temperature 37.9 degrees Celsius, heart rate 96, blood pressure relatively stable.

The man's hand reached in from the left side, and just as it pressed against the lower right abdomen, his fingers gripped the sheet, pulling out a fold. The moment Lin Ye let go, he even curled his legs up.

Lin Ye took off his gloves.

"Don't eat or drink anything yet. Jiang Wen, establish an intravenous line, send in blood routine and liver and kidney function tests, and schedule an enhanced abdominal CT scan."

Zhou Min came over to check the abdominal signs and asked about the surgical history and drug allergies.

"As soon as the scans come out, it's called general surgery."

"Don't let him walk away on his own."

Jiang Wen pushed the wheelchair to the bedside.

The man took out his phone, and a message from his wife popped up on the screen.

He stared at the words for a long time without moving: "She asked me why I didn't pick up the child at noon."

"How will you reply?"

"I don't want to tell her yet." He turned his phone over and placed it face down on his lap. "The child is still in kindergarten. If she gets anxious, she'll definitely come over with the child in her arms."

Lin Ye stuffed the examination report into the side pocket of his wheelchair.

"Tell her where you are. Find someone to pick up the child first, so she knows which way to go if the child needs to be hospitalized later."

The man hesitated for two seconds, then dialed the number.

When the call connected, his first words were that it was nothing serious. After a couple more questions from the other end, he turned his face away and lowered his voice, saying, "She's at the First Municipal Hospital, her stomach hurts, and the doctor is checking her up. Don't bring the child over; have Aunt Wang pick her up first."

When we returned from the test, the blood test results were still warm from the machine.

White blood cell count was 14.6, and neutrophil percentage was 87%.

The abdominal CT scan was uploaded to the workstation, showing an enlarged appendix and mottled appearance in the surrounding fat spaces.

Lin Ye dialed the general surgery on-call number and reported the onset time, how the pain shifted to the right lower abdomen, the tenderness and rebound tenderness in the right lower abdomen, the blood count, and what the X-ray looked like.

Dr. Wei went to the observation area to review the X-rays and examined the abdomen again.

"Acute appendicitis, admit to general surgery first, let's get started with preoperative preparations." He placed the tablet at the foot of the bed. "When the family arrives, I'll discuss the surgery first. Anesthesia will have to wait for the anesthesiologist's assessment."

When the man's wife arrived, she had only grabbed a handful of hair at the back of her head and had half a charging cable wrapped around her hand.

She first stuffed the piece of thread into her husband's hand before bending down to look at his face.

"The child is staying at Aunt Wang's house." Her eyes were red, but her words were sharp. "If you dare tell me it's okay again, I'll deal with you when you're better."

The man didn't say anything, wrapped the piece of thread around his finger, and then slowly unwrapped it.

Dr. Wei took the couple to complete the hospitalization and pre-operative procedures.

After reviewing the scans and reports, Director Wang decided on laparoscopic appendectomy, and the general surgery department immediately arranged preoperative preparations.

"Did you assemble this bed?" Director Wang asked Lin Ye.

"Yes."

"The emergency room staff will come up as soon as they've finished their work; it'll be the second assistant."

Lin Ye didn't follow the stretcher to the inpatient department; instead, he turned around and went back to the emergency room.

There were two of his own to-do items still sitting on the workstation.

The patient in bed 5 will be reassessed 20 minutes after the IV infusion is finished. The patient just asked if he/she can leave.

The patient in bed seven had not recovered his liver function, and his family stayed by the printer the whole time.

The transfer record for patient 3 is still open, with the last column awaiting confirmation from the receiving department.

The internal phone rang.

Jiang Wen pressed the speakerphone button, and the voice of the circulating nurse in the operating room came through.

"Director Wang's appendectomy has already been admitted. When will Dr. Lin be able to come up?"

Lin Ye glanced at the time and then looked next door.

The IV bottle in bed five was almost empty, with only the neck of the bottle remaining. The patient had already draped his coat over his arm.

The family member in bed seven took two steps toward the work station, then stopped.

"Ten minutes."

The call bell for bed five rang again as soon as I hung up the phone.

When Jiang Wen rushed over, the patient had already pushed the IV stand to the side of the bed, with one sleeve of his coat hanging on his arm.

"My family is at the door." He pointed to the nearly empty IV bag. "Can I leave once this bag is finished?"

"Don't rush, the doctor for the follow-up examination hasn't seen you yet." Lin Ye walked over and straightened the IV stand. "Sit down first, don't pull it out yourself."

Lin Ye first added the transfer information, fasting and water restriction details, and completed procedures for the patient in Observation Bed 3 to the handover column before going to find Zhou Min.

"Patient 5 will have their re-evaluation done at 11:40 after receiving IV fluids. I just asked if they could leave now. Patient 7's liver function test results haven't come back yet; don't let them go until the results are available."

Zhou Min pulled the two records on his screen to her own view and first looked at the time of bed five and the name of bed seven.

"I'll go check on bed five. Call me directly when the results for bed seven are out." She looked up. "Jiang Wen, remind me when it's time. If anything happens to bed seven, don't go to the operating room looking for Lin Ye."

"Okay." Jiang Wen had already written the time into the nursing record.

Zhou Min took the medical record folder and headed towards bed five.

Lin Ye then told the fifth patient about the re-evaluation time and the doctor who had taken over the case.

The patient glanced at the doorway, but ultimately put his coat back on the back of the chair.

The family members of patient in bed seven also came over to ask about the results.

Lin Ye pointed to the workstation screen that was still spinning: "Give the results to Dr. Zhou first. Don't leave, let's wait until she's seen them before we talk."

When he returned to the workstation, Zhou Min had already signed the handover form behind the handover column.

The confirmation of the transfer to another department for bed three also popped up. Jiang Wen threw the empty IV bag that bed five had just removed into the bucket and casually gestured with her chin toward the changing room.

Lin Ye then took off his white coat and walked towards the changing room.

After changing into his surgical gown, he silenced his phone and followed the signs to the operating room door.

The area outside the operating room was much quieter than the emergency room; the sound of the stretcher wheels rolling over the ground was unusually clear.

The man had already changed into his surgical gown, and his wife followed at the foot of the bed. When she saw Lin Ye coming over, he raised his hand.

"Is the emergency room done?"

"It's all settled." Lin Ye put on his mask. "Just go in and listen to Director Wang and the anesthesiologist."

His wife stood to the side and nodded at him.

The stretcher was wheeled into the operating room, and the circulating nurse unfolded the safety checklist, reading out the name, wristband, surgical site, and surgical procedure name one by one.

"Laparoscopic appendectomy," said Director Wang.

The circulating nurse's pen stopped at the next column.

"A second assistant?"

Lin Ye stepped forward.

"Linye."

In the column for second assistant, his name was written.