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

I finished writing the report on the handling of the mass incident at 9 a.m. and finally sent it to the medical department after typing the last word.

Lin Ye, Sun Zhiqiang, Ma Hao, and Jiang Peng slumped in their office chairs, completely drained of energy. Nurse Zhao tossed a piece of multigrain bread in front of each of them, but no one even reached out to catch it; no one had the energy to complain about how dry and hard the bread was.

A mountain of documents lay piled up beside the computer: triage forms, a stack of lab reports, consultation records from various departments, and several patient wristband stubs crumpled from being soaked in disinfectant. Lin Ye's right hand was so sore he could barely lift it; the last few lines of his signature were practically scribbled out by pressing the pen against the paper.

Qin Hai held the final print report and flipped through it from the first page to the last.

His fingertips tapped along the edge of the report: "Red, yellow, and green zones, timeline, key cases, screening of non-hospitalized cases, outcome—" He glanced at the slumped group of people, "This is more human-like than the medical records you usually write."

Ma Hao buried his face in his arms and whimpered, "Director, is that a compliment?"

"Barely."

Liu Zhenhua came again this morning.

This time he didn't come empty-handed; a staff member from the administration office followed behind him, holding a printed draft of the report in his hand.

Nurse Zhao, with her sharp eyes, noticed the word "Notification" on the cover, and her face fell: "Another notification?"

Ma Hao shrank his neck and muttered under his breath, "These two words are more terrifying to me now than an electrocardiogram of ventricular fibrillation."

Qin Hai's brows furrowed instantly when he saw the words "Notification on the handling of the nighttime mass incident in the emergency department".

"A notification?"

Liu Zhenhua handed the paper forward: "Take a look at the contents first."

Qin Hai scanned two lines, and his fingers, which were gripping the paper, quietly loosened.

It is not a disciplinary notice.

It's praise.

The report stated: The emergency department handled a sudden outbreak of gastrointestinal symptoms in groups during the night. The triage was timely and the process was clear. One case of organophosphate poisoning mixed in with two other cases of non-related emergencies was successfully identified, preventing the risk from escalating.

Lin Ye wasn't singled out and portrayed as a charlatan.

But his name is clearly printed in the "Key Participants" column.

Lin Ye stood to the side without saying a word.

He had already prepared the rectification document after get off work yesterday, and was just waiting for the medical affairs department to ask for it.

Liu Zhenhua glanced at him: "Don't look like you're waiting to be scolded. The medical affairs department doesn't just issue warning slips."

Nurse Zhao, standing nearby, pursed her lips and whispered, "That's not necessarily true."

Liu Zhenhua pretended not to hear.

An officer from the hospital office added, "Last night, several patients' families filmed the scene and posted it on local platforms, praising the emergency department's quick and efficient response. The family of the patient with organophosphate poisoning also sent a thank-you letter, which is currently in the lobby on the first floor."

Qin Hai held the thermos lid between his fingers and tried to unscrew it three times, but couldn't.

Emergency rooms are most afraid of the media and lack genuine recognition. If the video is edited incorrectly, it becomes "emergency room negligence causing poisoned patients to queue up"; if it is edited too well, it becomes "night shift miracle doctor diagnoses at a glance". Neither of these is the true picture of last night with vomit all over the floor, ink on hands, and everyone working around the clock to screen patients.

The real scene was a group of people wading through disinfectant to pull out the most dangerous patient buried among the mild cases.

The thank-you letter arrived quickly.

Deng Jun's wife's eyes were swollen like walnuts. She was clutching two sheets of paper in her hand, her handwriting neat and tidy. She said her handwriting was too ugly, so she asked the nurse on the first floor to help her copy it.

"My husband is still in the ICU. The doctor said he was brought in in time; if he had arrived half an hour later, he wouldn't have survived. Last night we all thought it was just food poisoning. If you hadn't picked him out..."

She paused halfway through her sentence and bowed deeply to everyone in the room.

Qin Hai reached out and took the thank-you letter: "This is what we should do in the emergency room."

The woman shook her head, tears streaming down her face: "Not everyone can tell. He works in the fields and comes into contact with pesticides, but we never even considered that possibility."

Her gaze swept over the forest and stopped.

"Dr. Lin, thank you."

Many family members accompanying patients outside the office looked over. Lin Ye took a half step back and said, "It was handled by the entire emergency team. I was just doing my job."

Qin Hai glanced at him but didn't expose him.

The notification and the letter of thanks were delivered together to the hospital leadership's office.

In the afternoon, the dean convened a short meeting to discuss the outcome of the proceedings.

Lin Ye wasn't qualified to attend the meeting, so he just loitered around the nurses' station waiting for news.

Ma Hao was even more nervous than him, and nudged his arm: "Do you think the institute will give us a bonus? After paying rent, I only have 300 yuan left of my residency training salary this month."

Jiang Peng rolled his eyes: "What else is on your mind besides the bonus?"

Ma Hao retorted confidently, "Don't resident trainees deserve to think about bonuses?"

Nurse Zhao walked by with a stack of IV drip slips, not even looking up: "You wish! At most, we'll schedule two more overtime shifts for you to fix the records."

Qin Hai returned from the administration building in the evening.

He slammed a printed sheet of paper down in front of Lin Ye.

Lin Ye looked down.

Emergency response team rotation schedule.

His name was prominently displayed in the follower column for the following week.

"The hospital's decision is to observe first." Qin Hai tapped the paper with his fingertip, emphasizing the word "observation." "No punishment, and no individual commendation. It's an internal adjustment within the emergency department; starting from the next shift, you'll officially be with the resuscitation team."

This is hardly a reward.

It pushed him a step into a brighter, more dangerous spotlight.

Sun Zhiqiang frowned and said, "Isn't it too fast? He's still in his residency training period."

Qin Hai pressed the duty roster onto the edge of the table: "So it's a mentorship program, not independent duty. Senior physicians will provide one-on-one training, and every emergency case must be reviewed. A learning report must be submitted weekly. The medical affairs department is watching, and the science and education department is also watching, so there won't be any mistakes."

Lin Ye stared at his two square black characters.

From the emergency triage desk to the resuscitation team, there are only three rows of spaces on the schedule.

Behind that cubicle were piles of phone calls from the director that had been ringing late at night for the past two weeks, countless written reports, and the ever-present traces of disinfectant and vomit on the emergency room floor.

Qin Hai looked up at him: "Are you scared?"

Lin Ye nodded: "I'm scared."

Qin Hai smiled, a hint of satisfaction in his expression: "It's good that you're afraid. Those who aren't afraid shouldn't be in the emergency room."

Nurse Zhao posted the thank-you letter on the bulletin board next to the nurses' station.

The letter paper was just ordinary A4 paper, and the handwriting wasn't particularly beautiful.

But whenever someone from the emergency department passes by, they always stop to take a look.

Ma Hao stood in front of the bulletin board for a long time, then scratched his head: "So, praise really isn't a bonus."

Jiang Peng patted him on the shoulder: "At least it's not a rectification notice, be content."

Nurse Zhao walked by with a blood pressure monitor, casually remarking, "Being able to leave work safely and peacefully is the biggest bonus for the emergency room."

At 11 p.m., Lin Ye’s phone suddenly vibrated twice.

I don't know who sent the new emergency team rotation schedule to the hospital's department head group.

Zhou Mingyuan was the first to jump in: "【Formally on the emergency team?】"

Tang Zhendong followed up: "[We'll probably get even more phone calls in the middle of the night from now on.]"

Liang Xiulan: [I suggest that all department heads carry a high-capacity power bank to avoid missing calls and causing accidents.]

Qin Hai: [Anyone who spreads rumors about my department's shift schedule again will be required to work eight hours at the emergency triage station tomorrow.]

The group chat went silent instantly.

Three seconds later, Shen Ruomei sent a message.

[Congratulations to the ER for getting another sleepless night this year.]

Lin Ye stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the lock screen button, but he didn't press it for a long time.

On the emergency response schedule, his first shift is tomorrow night.