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

The ambulance arrived a minute earlier than expected.

As soon as the back door opened, the triage nurse pushed the monitor next to the car.

The man on the transfer bed opened his eyes, heard the noise outside the vehicle, and immediately turned his gaze to the door.

Her right hand was still pressing on her stomach, and half a bag of saline solution was still hanging on the IV stand in the car.

"Fang Hao, 30 years old, started having diarrhea this morning and fainted at the entrance of the restroom at his workplace this afternoon." The accompanying doctor stepped down the transport bed support and handed over the pre-hospital data. "When he got on the ambulance, his blood pressure was 96.6, his heart rate was 112, and his blood sugar was 5.4. He has already received 300 ml of fluids and was able to answer normally after waking up."

Lin Ye followed the transfer bed inside: "What were you doing before you fainted?"

"I had just come out of the restroom and taken a few steps when everything suddenly went black. I don't know anything after that," Fang Hao said.

Who called the ambulance?

"My colleague saw me collapse at the toilet door."

The accompanying doctor chimed in, "He woke up quickly. My colleagues didn't see him convulse, nor did he lose control of his bladder or bowels. He was able to respond normally after waking up."

Lin Ye told Fang Hao to move his limbs and asked if he had any pain in his head or neck. Fang Hao moved them one by one and shook his head, saying no.

"How many times have you had diarrhea today?" Lin Ye steered the conversation back to diarrhea. "Is there any blood, black stool, or fever?"

"Six or seven times, it was all water. There was no blood or black discharge, and no fever."

"Does your chest hurt? Do you feel palpitations?"

"No, none of them."

Have you ever fainted before? Do you have any heart disease or arrhythmia?

Fang Hao shook his head. Lin Ye then asked about long-term medication use and the sudden deaths of young relatives in the family, but received the same negative answer.

What did you eat today?

"I bought a bowl of cold noodles at the convenience store this morning, and my colleague ate some too; he's fine. I haven't eaten anything since noon."

Fang Hao denied any recent use of antibiotics, travel, or contact with similar patients. After saying this, he licked his dry lips.

Lin Ye took his wrist to check his pulse, and then examined his abdomen.

When his hand landed around his navel, Fang Hao frowned, but there was no obvious reaction in other areas.

"Have you felt nauseous or vomited? Can you drink water?" Lin Ye asked.

"I didn't throw up, but I felt a little nauseous. I felt like I needed to go to the toilet as soon as I drank water, so I didn't dare to drink any more."

His phone vibrated twice in his pocket as he spoke.

Fang Hao held his phone through the fabric without taking it out, but answered Lin Ye's questions much faster than before, as if he just wanted to end this round of questioning as soon as possible.

Lin Ye didn't rush him, but reminded him as the transfer bed continued to move inside that any medical history he couldn't remember could be filled in slowly, and he shouldn't miss anything in order to save time.

The cleaning cart for bed four was still lying across the door, and the bed turnover nurse was changing the sheets.

Lin Ye first kept Fang Hao in the monitoring position at the emergency entrance, continued to administer intravenous fluids, and at the same time completed electrocardiogram, blood routine, electrolyte, and kidney function tests.

"Doctor, do I have low blood sugar?"

"Your blood sugar is normal in the car. Don't rush to find a diagnosis for yourself. Get your electrocardiogram and lab tests done first."

The electrocardiogram (ECG) printout came out of the machine. Lin Ye checked all the leads and found only sinus tachycardia, with no dangerous changes detected.

The bedside nurse reported the retest results: "Blood pressure 98.62, heart rate 108."

"It's not stable yet." Lin Ye placed the pager next to Fang Hao. "Press the bell if you need to use the restroom, don't walk down by yourself."

"Okay, I won't dare to wander around now," Fang Hao replied quickly. His eyes were immediately drawn to the screen as soon as his phone rang.

Lin Ye handed the electrocardiogram to the triage nurse and returned to the emergency room to check on the other patients.

Nurse Zhu was checking blood usage information for patient number three. When she saw him come over, she said, "He hasn't vomited anymore, and his blood pressure is still within the normal range. The gastroenterology department said they'll continue to coordinate the endoscopy."

"Call me after you've completed the blood test. Report it immediately if your blood pressure drops again."

The patient in bed 2 no longer had chest pain, but his troponin levels had not yet returned.

The monitoring equipment for bed four has been restored, and the bed rotation nurse is making a final check.

Lin Ye paused between the third and second beds to confirm there were no new changes before returning to the entrance monitoring position.

Fang Hao stared at the message for a few seconds and replied only, "There's a bit of traffic on the road."

As Lin Ye approached, he pointed to the IV bag and asked, "Can I leave after this bag of fluid is finished?"

"Let's wait for the tests."

"I'm not dizzy anymore, and I'm fully conscious." Fang Hao placed his phone face down on the thin blanket, his tone clearly tentative. "I should be alright now, right?"

"Not feeling dizzy while lying down doesn't mean you'll be fine when you stand up and walk."

When the fluid resuscitation was close to 500 ml, the blood pressure rose to 10868 and the heart rate dropped to 96.

Bed number four was also tidied up, and Fang Hao moved in to continue observation, reconnecting the IV and monitor.

As soon as the bedside table was raised, he started asking again when the lab results would be back.

The results arrived quickly. Serum potassium was 3.1, hematocrit was slightly elevated, and creatinine was also slightly above the upper limit of normal.

Lin Ye put the report into the medical record folder at the foot of the bed.

"Your potassium level is a bit low, and the dehydration hasn't been completely corrected. Continue to give fluids, and start with oral potassium supplementation. Once you can drink water, we'll need to observe whether you vomit or have diarrhea again. We'll have your electrolytes checked again tomorrow or the day after."

Fang Hao only caught the word "oral" before his hand reached for his phone.

"Then I'll go out for a bit and come back later, okay? I'll take a taxi, I won't drive."

"Even if you take a car, you have to walk to the emergency room entrance first. You don't even know if you can stand up steadily now."

"Isn't your blood pressure normal?"

"That was measured while lying down."

Fang Hao threw off the thin blanket, as if he had finally found a way to prove himself.

"Then I'll stand here and show you."

The nurse at the bedside helped him sit on the edge of the bed.

He was clearly impatient; as soon as his feet touched the ground, he braced himself on the edge of the bed to get up.

"Sit still first." Lin Ye raised his hand to stop him. "If you feel a little dizzy, just say so. Don't force yourself to stay awake just to save time."

Fang Hao then stood up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed.

At first he was able to straighten his back, but after a few seconds he tried to loosen one hand.

The moment his hand left the edge of the bed, his feet wobbled, his shoulders slumped forward, and he quickly reached for the bed rail.

"I'm still a little weak."

The nurse immediately supported his arm and helped him back to bed.

The heart rate on the monitor has risen to 114.

Fang Hao took a breath and this time didn't say that he was already better.

Lin Ye raised the bed railing: "You need to continue giving me fluids and potassium. Once you can stand up and your dizziness has subsided, and your vital signs have stabilized, we can talk about whether you can walk."

Just then, the phone rang again.

Fang Hao stared at the screen, but did not reply for a long time.

"Today is Qixi Festival, and I made a reservation at a restaurant for 6 pm. I already stood her up once last month because I was on duty, and if I don't go today, she'll definitely think I don't care about this at all."

Messages kept popping up on the screen. The other person first asked where he was, and then asked if he was feeling unwell.

Fang Hao read those few lines over and over again.

"There's no way to hide it now." Lin Ye put the report back into the medical record folder. "Whether she can leave depends on the follow-up examination. As for her, I think you should tell her the truth."

Fang Hao finally dialed back.

"Don't panic, I'm in the emergency room of the First Municipal Hospital, bed four in the resuscitation area."

The person on the other end of the phone asked several more questions.

He held the phone close to his ear and waited for the other person to finish speaking before explaining.

"It's nothing serious, I'm just still getting IV fluids. You don't need to come over, I'll come find you when I'm better."

Lin Ye didn't listen any further and turned to check the blood transfusion records for bed three.

A dozen minutes later, hurried footsteps could be heard at the emergency room entrance.

A young woman rushed in carrying two drinks; most of the ice in the drinks had melted, and she was holding a cell phone in her other hand.

The triage nurse directed her to bed number four. When she walked to the bedside and saw the IV catheter on the back of Fang Hao's hand, her face darkened.

"You're telling me about traffic jams."

She placed the drink on the bedside table.

"So they were stuck in traffic at the emergency room?"