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

At 7:50 a.m., in the emergency room of Cangshan County People's Hospital.

Medical staff who were changing shifts came in one after another.

The usually noisy shift change time was unusually quiet today.

Several nurses on the day shift stood frozen in place, their gazes sweeping across the lobby.

In the infusion hall on the left, a passenger with minor injuries had a neatly wrapped sterile gauze on his head, and was receiving intravenous fluids on a folding bed. The corridor was unobstructed, the floor was spotlessly clean, and there was no lingering smell of blood.

The head of general surgery and the head of orthopedics walked quickly to the triage desk. Looking at the twenty-four complete and clearly categorized medical records in the medical record folder, their faces were full of undisguised astonishment.

"All twenty-four critically injured patients... are they all stable?" the head of surgery murmured to himself.

Guo Shusen stood in front of the nurses' station, his eyes bloodshot from staying up all night, but his back ramrod straight: "Not a single one was missing. All completed the first phase of emergency treatment and surgery. Zero transfers, zero deaths!"

Lin Ye, Zhao Feng, and Liang Shumin emerged from the emergency room, their white coats stained with dried blood and iodine.

At 8:00 sharp, the bedside handover began on time.

Lin Ye picked up the handover notebook, speaking in a steady and clear voice:

"The patient with a pelvic fracture and femoral artery rupture underwent a right-side autologous great saphenous vein inversion bypass surgery and was secured with a pelvic sling and sheet. Currently, the right dorsalis pedis artery pulse is good, the skin temperature is normal, and the capillary refill time is 1.5 seconds. The orthopedic surgeon on the day shift is closely monitoring the tightness of the sheet and strictly prohibits the unauthorized loosening of the sling; the surgeon will check the peripheral pulse every two hours."

"clear!"

The on-call orthopedic surgeon immediately marked it with an emphasis in the logbook.

Zhao Feng looked at the head of surgery with a serious expression:

"The young woman suffered a penetrating injury to the metal handrail of the bus, which also damaged the right external iliac vein and abdominal wall muscles. She was also in severe hemorrhagic shock and hypothermia. She underwent damage control surgery last night. The iliac vein was repaired continuously with 5-0 non-traumatic sutures, and six large sterile gauze pads were packed deep in the pelvic floor to compress and stop the bleeding. The abdominal wall skin was sutured with a single layer of full-thickness sutures."

Zhao Feng tapped the temperature chart on the medical record folder:

"Currently, the drainage from the abdominal drainage tube is less than 20 ml per hour, the urine output is 50 ml per hour, and the body temperature has risen to 36.6 degrees Celsius. During the day shift, we will focus on monitoring abdominal wall tension and bladder pressure, and strictly prohibit forceful pressing on the lower abdomen. Once the coagulation indicators are completely corrected within 40 to 48 hours, I will be the chief surgeon to remove the gauze and perform secondary debridement."

"Don't worry, Dr. Zhao, the ICU has top-notch nursing care, with someone constantly watching over the bed!"

The head of surgery nodded quickly.

Liang Shumin then handed over the water seal status of the drainage bottles for tension pneumothorax, as well as the key points for the plaster fixation inspection of the eight fracture patients.

After the shift handover was completed, Vice Dean Yan Mingcheng strode into the hall, glanced at the three men with weary faces, and immediately issued an administrative order:

"Department heads, immediately take the patients back to their wards and take responsibility! The medical team members haven't slept since they got off the bus yesterday, working continuously for fourteen hours straight. Listen up, everyone, if anyone dares to call and disturb the medical team's sleep during the day, I will deduct their department's performance bonus for the month! Team Leader Lin, Dr. Zhao, Director Liang, go wash your faces, eat, and sleep immediately."

As I stepped out of the emergency building, the morning mountain breeze greeted me.

The bluestone pavement was wet, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and vegetation, which greatly reduced the smell of engine oil and blood on my body.

Yan Mingcheng led the three of them into a narrow alley behind the hospital.

At the entrance of the alley stood a large cast-iron pot, steaming with thick, white mutton bone broth, while fresh mutton slices and neatly arranged noodles were laid out on the cutting board.

"The old-established mutton restaurant in Cangshan has been simmering its broth for over twenty years." Yan Mingcheng pulled out an old red-lacquered wooden chair. "Fill your stomach first, so you can sleep soundly when your stomach is warm."

In less than five minutes, the restaurant served three large bowls of steaming hot Cangshan mutton stew noodles, along with two plates of freshly baked, crispy sesame flatbreads.

The wide noodles are chewy, the broth is topped with a thick layer of lamb slices, sprinkled with cilantro and garlic sprouts, and drizzled with a spoonful of fragrant chili oil.

The steam hit my face, instantly stimulating my appetite after such intense exertion.

Lin Ye took a big gulp of hot soup. The rich and flavorful bone broth was piping hot as it entered his stomach, instantly soothing and comforting his tired and tense digestive system.

Zhao Feng's right hand, which was holding chopsticks, trembled slightly; it was the muscle soreness left from holding the needle suspended in the air for several hours.

He ate the noodles in large mouthfuls, chewed on the crispy sesame flatbread, and let out a long sigh:

"Great! This hot soup really refreshes me."

Liang Shumin sipped her soup, a relaxed smile on her face: "The water in the mountains is good, and the mutton has no gamey smell at all."

The three of them ate a mouthful of noodles and a bite of sesame flatbread, and soon finished the whole bowl of hot noodles, with a thin layer of sweat on their foreheads.

After breakfast, Yan Mingcheng led them into the expert dormitory building in the backyard of the hospital.

The small building is a three-story red brick structure built against the mountain. Two towering ancient camphor trees stand in the courtyard, providing dense shade and melodious birdsong.

The dormitory was extremely clean, with a single room for each person, covered with white cotton quilts, and heavy double-layered blackout curtains hanging on the windows.

Lin Ye went into the room, turned on the tap, and quickly took a hot shower.

The scalding water washed away the stickiness, and after changing into a clean, soft gray cotton T-shirt and boxer shorts, a wave of soreness washed over me.

He walked to the window and pulled the dark blue blackout curtains tightly shut.

The room suddenly became as dark as night.

Lin Ye lay down on the soft, dry bed, his cheek pressed against the warm pillow.

He closed his eyes, and a heavy, peaceful drowsiness completely engulfed him, and he fell into a deep sleep.

Throughout the day, Cangshan County operated quietly.

The traffic police brigade, the emergency response office, and the injured person's family members came to deliver a letter of thanks.

Upon learning that the doctor who was treating the patient was catching up on sleep, everyone spontaneously slowed their pace.

A sign reading "Experts are resting, please do not make noise" was hung on the iron gate in the backyard, and even the ambulances that entered the hospital during the day quietly turned off their sirens.

At 5:30 p.m., the setting sun cast a golden-red glow over the ridge of the Cangshan Eighteen Bends.

Lin Ye opened his eyes, drew back the curtains, and the afterglow of the setting sun filled the room.

Lin Ye walked out of the small building. Under the camphor tree in the courtyard, Zhao Feng was bending over to get spring water from the water pipe to wash his face. Liang Shumin was sitting on a stone bench, slowly drinking honeysuckle tea to relieve heat.

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and Guo Shusen walked in with a smile, carrying a thermos lunchbox:

"You're all awake? You're full of energy! The cafeteria made yam and chicken soup and cooked soft rice. Eat it while it's hot."

Guo Shusen placed the lunchbox on the stone table, his face beaming with joy:

"During the day, I led a team to patrol the area three times. The temperature of the farmer's lower leg, which was injured by the agricultural machinery, has completely returned to normal. The girl with the penetrating injury had her trachea removed at noon and can nod and speak! Her family cried and thanked us in the ward and brought several bamboo baskets of freshly picked green and red apples."

Lin Ye took the chicken soup, took a sip, and smiled, "It's good that the patient is stable. Thank you for keeping an eye on things during the day, Director Guo."

"Hey, what's a little hardship like this!" Guo Shusen took out a brand-new red cloth armband from his pocket and carefully handed it to Lin Ye.

The armband was embroidered with a line of large characters in yellow thread: "Cangshan County People's Hospital Night Medical Duty Officer".

"Dean Yan personally signed the document. From today onwards, you are the resident chief on-call officer at Cangshan County Hospital." Guo Shusen said seriously, "At night, for emergency, critical care, and consultations in various wards, if anyone dares to shirk their responsibilities, you will deal with them directly according to the regulations."

Lin Ye accepted the armband; the red cloth had a solid feel to it.

"it is good."

After dinner, Lin Ye changed into a neat white coat and put on the bright red duty officer armband on his left arm.

The three walked side by side down the tree-lined path and re-entered the emergency room hall, which was just beginning to light up at night.

At the nurses' station, the young nurses saw Lin Ye wearing the on-call armband on his left arm and stood up in unison: "Hello, Manager Lin!"

Lin Ye nodded to the nurses and sat down in the center of the emergency triage desk.

Just as he opened the night duty logbook, the red internal telephone on the table suddenly rang sharply and urgently!

Outside, on the dark mountain road, an ambulance with blue lights flashed and rushed up the emergency room ramp through the night fog.

Linye clicked on the speaker phone.

"Emergency room on-call supervisor, please speak."