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

When Lin Ye opened his eyes, his mind was blank.

The room was pitch black.

I can't tell what day it is, or whether it's still dark or I've already slept until the early hours of the next day.

For a couple of seconds, my nerves tensed up reflexively, and I subconsciously thought I had overslept and missed my shift change. I could almost hear the piercing wail of the ambulance again.

Lin Ye fumbled for his phone next to his pillow and pressed the power button.

The screen's cold light illuminated:

【17: 42】

Tuesday, Sunny

My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled back into my stomach.

I had only slept all day, and now it's Tuesday evening.

Lin Ye lifted the thin blanket and sat up, shuffling to the window in his soft-soled slippers. He reached out, grabbed the corner of the black curtain, and pulled it forcefully to the side.

Splash.....

In the courtyard of the old residential area, the sounds of elderly men and women chatting as they strolled and bought groceries drifted from downstairs, along with the pungent aroma of someone frying chili peppers.

Lin Ye poured a large glass of warm water and gulped down most of it in one go, finally extinguishing the burning sensation in his throat.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and turned off his phone's do-not-disturb mode.

As soon as I turned off the silent mode, the phone started buzzing and vibrating incessantly in my palm.

More than twenty WeChat notifications popped up, but there were no red alerts urging rescue efforts; instead, they were all reassuring follow-up feedback messages.

The first message was posted by the thoracic surgery chief on-call officer in the "Emergency-Thoracic Surgery Collaboration Group":

[Cardiothoracic Surgery On-Duty Reporter: @Emergency Resident Lin Ye, the young man in bed 1 with a ruptured esophagus, our chief surgeon performed the operation, and he was taken off the operating table at 3 pm! The 3.5 cm longitudinal tear in the lower esophagus has been successfully sutured with double-layer continuous sutures. The posterior mediastinum and pleural cavity have been thoroughly cleaned, and three negative pressure drainage tubes have been placed.]

The patient has regained consciousness and been extubated in the thoracic ICU; their vital signs are stable! The head doctor just specifically asked about it, saying it was all thanks to your decisive action in placing a drainage tube for decompression at the CT room entrance. If they had been pushed onto the elevator with high chest pressure, they definitely wouldn't have made it off. Thank you on behalf of the patient's family!

Next came a joint group message from the obstetrics and ICU departments. The obstetrics resident sent a screenshot of a lab report:

[Obstetrics On-Call: The pregnant woman in bed 2 with severe pancreatitis, after continuous intravenous insulin pump therapy and low molecular weight heparin, had her triglyceride level drop from 28.5 mmol/L to 7.6 mmol/L at 4 PM! Completely breaching the safety threshold! The fetal heart rate remained between 138 and 142 beats per minute throughout, with no late decelerations observed. The tocolytics have been discontinued, and the abdominal pain has completely subsided. She will be transferred out of the ICU tomorrow morning and back to the general obstetrics ward for continued pregnancy support.]

Lin Ye tapped the screen lightly and replied briefly:

[Lin Ye: Received.]

The screen was turned off, and Lin Ye leaned against the headboard, letting out a deep breath.

This is probably the most private and irreplaceable sense of accomplishment that emergency room doctors experience after taking off their white coats.

The night before, under immense pressure of complaints and accountability, every risky step taken on the tightrope turned into two living numbers that escaped the line of death.

The phone rang again.

Lin Ye answered the call and held it to his ear: "Mom."

"Ono, are you awake yet?"

The phone rang with my mother's gentle yet somewhat loud nagging voice.

"I knew you were off tonight, so I called just before evening. Was your night shift busy last night? Did you eat breakfast before going to sleep this morning?"

"I've already eaten. I had tofu pudding and fried dough sticks. Last night, we admitted two critically ill patients, but they both survived."

"That's good. Saving lives is a virtuous act, but you also need to take care of your own health."

My mother was rambling on and on on the other end of the line.

"The box of braised beef and dried sausages from my hometown that I sent you a couple of days ago has been delivered to the Fengniao locker at the east gate of your community, according to the tracking information. Go and pick it up and put it in the fridge. Even though it's already autumn, the summer heat is still intense during the day, so don't let it stale in the fridge."

"Okay, I'll go get it when I go out in a bit."

"And also, your dad came in second place in the community senior billiards tournament the other day. He's been so happy bragging to Uncle Wang next door every day, insisting that you come home next week on your day off to try the wild crucian carp he caught..."

Lin Ye leaned against the window, listening to his mother's fragmented ramblings about everyday family matters.

He didn't say much, just responded quietly.

The setting sun outside the window stretched his shadow long and soft. At this moment, the cold defibrillator, bloodstains, and disinfectant in the emergency room were completely gone. He was just an ordinary son away from home.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ye went into the bathroom and took a warm shower.

She changed into a dry, loose-fitting black and gray short-sleeved shirt and shorts.

He picked up his keys and an eco-friendly cloth bag and went out the door.

Lin Ye first went to the east gate of the community to pick up the heavy refrigerated package, and then turned into the old hardware and general store at the entrance of the community, where he spent three yuan to buy four thick and tough black non-slip rubber table leg mats.

After buying the placemat, he strolled into the vegetable market diagonally opposite.

The farmers' market was bustling and lively with discounts and clearance sales in the evening.

Lin Ye picked out half a pound of fresh spare ribs from the butcher and asked him to chop them into small pieces. He also picked out a piece of old winter melon from the vegetable stall and grabbed a small handful of fresh ginger and scallions.

Carrying the groceries back to the one-bedroom apartment on the first floor, Lin Ye neatly arranged the braised beef sent from his hometown into the refrigerator.

Then he walked to the desk against the wall.

He crouched down, gripped the heavy solid wood edge of the desk with both hands, took a deep breath, tensed his arm muscles, and forcefully lifted the corner of the desk upwards.

With lightning speed, he reached under the table and pulled out two heavy, hardcover books that had been suffering under the table and were covered in a thin layer of dust.

Lin Ye took out a wet wipe and gently wiped the dust off the cover, then opened the book to find the inner pages intact.

I placed the two books on the simple wooden bookshelf by the bedside.

Then, Lin Ye peeled off the adhesive backing of the black rubber pad and firmly attached it to the bottom of the table leg.

The table landed back on the ground, and when I pushed it hard, it was perfectly stable and didn't budge.

"Alright, I guess you've been rescued."

Lin Ye chuckled to himself.

In the kitchen, pork ribs are blanched and then cooled.

Lin Ye lit the gas stove, threw the ribs, crushed ginger, and a few sections of scallions into the black clay pot, filled it with water to about half full, brought it to a boil over high heat, and then turned it into a slow simmer.

Glug, glug, glug...

As white steam billowed from the small holes in the casserole lid, the rich, mellow aroma of meat and the fresh scent of ginger began to permeate the small room.

Half an hour later, the green winter melon, cut into thick and thin slices, was slid into the soup, making the broth clear and sweet.

Just as Lin Ye was tearing open a bag of salt and pepper to sprinkle into the soup, two very rhythmic knocks came from outside the door.

Boom, boom.

Then, Ma Hao's nonchalant voice came through the door:

"Team Leader Lin! I smell that delicious aroma! What good stuff are you stewing? I can hear the clay pot bubbling away, hurry up and open the door, confess everything!"

Lin Ye chuckled, put down the seasoning spoon, walked over and opened the door.

Standing outside the door was Ma Hao, also dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead from riding his bike there. He was carrying two bottles of chilled Nanbingyang orange soda, still dripping with water, and a plastic box of hot fried peanuts that he had bought casually at the entrance of the community.

"Why did you come here?"

Lin Ye stepped aside to let him in.

"I woke up and rode a shared bike out to find something to eat. On the way, I'll bring you back the power bank you left in the locker in the changing room."

Ma Hao pulled a white power bank out of his pocket and threw it on the table. He twitched his nose and stared intently at the small casserole dish in the kitchen.

"As soon as I entered the hallway on the first floor of your building, I smelled the delicious aroma of pork rib soup. I knew right away that you were cooking! What a coincidence! Quick, give me a big bowl, with plenty of meat and not too much winter melon!"

"Go get your own bowl."

"Okay!"