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

Gu Jianguo's name had just been circled in red when the blood glucose meter beeped again.

Nurse Zhao looked down at the screen.

She paused her fingertip on the edge of the blood glucose meter, first pulling out the test strip and then inserting a new one.

Han Qing stood by the bed, her hand still resting on the medicine board.

"Test again."

The second drop of blood was squeezed out even slower than before.

Gu Jianguo's fingers were cold, and his skin was wrinkled like paper that had been soaked in water.

The progress bar on the blood glucose meter slowly climbed forward, and the screen displayed the readings.

2.6.

Nurse Zhao's expression changed.

"It was 3:20 just now."

Han Qing placed the medicine slab onto the treatment cart.

"That's why I said don't let them go."

The tour guide stood next to the triage desk, still clutching the seating chart in his hand. He didn't understand anything about sulfonylureas, only that "dropped again."

"Wasn't he already saved?"

No one responded to him immediately.

Qin Hai's gaze fell on the blood glucose meter screen. Nurse Zhao tossed the used test strip into the small bucket next to the yellow sharps container.

Qin Hai picked up the medical order folder, and the pen tip paused on the paper.

"Gu Jianguo, continue glucose resuscitation. Check blood glucose every 10 to 15 minutes and record changes in consciousness."

He pushed the medical order folder over.

"Han Qing, you answer this."

Han Qing nodded.

"Admit him to the endocrinology intensive care unit. Don't leave the emergency room's sight tonight; transfer him when a bed becomes available."

She glanced at the old man's cold hands.

"Until the kidney function test results come back, the treatment will be repeated."

Gu Jianguo's daughter is still on speakerphone.

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the phone, like someone rummaging through clothes and looking for keys in the dark.

"Doctor, I'm rushing to the hospital. What if my dad... what if he doesn't wake up?"

Han Qing took the phone, her voice very steady.

"He's responding now, but his blood sugar is still unstable. Don't drive yourself; have someone take him. Don't hang up the phone. When you get to the hospital, bring all his usual medications."

The woman cried out, then forcefully held it back.

"Okay, I'll bring them all."

Nurse Zhao pulled the thermal blanket up to Gu Jianguo's chest.

The old man's eyes were half-open, his gaze shifting between the lamp and people's faces.

"Where am I...?"

Lin Ye leaned over.

"Emergency room at the First Municipal Hospital. Grandpa Gu, you have low blood sugar."

Gu Jianguo's lips trembled slightly.

"I didn't eat any candy... I'm afraid to eat candy..."

Upon hearing this, Han Qing frowned deeply.

"Who told you not to eat it?"

The old man seemed not to have heard clearly, and his gaze wandered away.

The female tourist sitting in front of him whispered, "He mentioned on the bus that his daughter doesn't let him eat sweets because she says his blood sugar is too high."

The person on the other end of the phone immediately became anxious.

"That's not what I meant! I meant he should eat less sweets, not that he shouldn't eat meals!"

Han Qing closed his eyes.

She didn't swear.

He simply moved the phone a little further away and whispered to Lin Ye, "Write this down: Long-term misconceptions about blood sugar control, continuing to take medication as usual after insufficient food intake."

Lin Ye immediately took note.

As the pen tip glided across the paper, he heard the IV pump next to him make a sound.

Liang Xiulan adjusted the pump and glanced at Gu Jianguo's side.

"Hypoglycemia in the elderly is much more frightening than hyperglycemia."

The child's father sat on the edge of the bed, clutching his coat, and his face turned pale as he listened.

He looked at his child.

The child has stopped vomiting much, there's an IV line on the back of his hand, and his lips are still dry.

"And my son..."

Liang Xiulan pasted the follow-up examination form into the medical record folder.

"Your son's blood sugar is 4.8, and he's in better spirits than before. His potassium is still low, so continue supplementing. Don't remove the cardiac monitoring."

The child's father nodded quickly.

This time he didn't ask if he could have a drink.

The sounds from inside the emergency room never stopped.

The monitor ticked, the IV pump alarm went off, and someone in the observation area clutched their stomach and called for a nurse.

Gu Jianguo's blood sugar dropped.

Yuan Guilan's urine bag finally contained some light yellow liquid.

The second elderly man with low blood pressure leaned against the headboard, his lips were pale, and he was still clutching a disposable vomit bag in his hand.

Someone in the observation area called for a nurse, saying they had a sharp pain in their stomach.

Every sound seemed to remind everyone that this was not a patient's night.

The lab called the nurses' station.

Sun Zhiqiang answered the phone, listened for a couple of sentences, and then looked up at Qin Hai.

"Gu Jianguo has high creatinine and slightly low potassium. His blood lactate level is not high, and his infection indicators are not prominent at the moment."

Han Qing reached out his hand.

"Give me the order form."

The printer made two stuttering sounds as it ejected paper.

Nurse Zhao patted the machine's casing.

Even the printers want to go home tonight.

The paper was spat out.

Han Qing took it, glanced at it a few times, and his expression didn't soften.

"Poor kidney function. Glibenclamide causes problems for him."

Qin Hai asked, "Do we need to add medication to control the rebound?"

Han Qing did not nod immediately.

She glanced at Gu Jianguo, then looked at the blood sugar record.

"Continue with glucose administration and monitor closely."

She pushed her blood sugar record up a little.

"If it drops again, contact the pharmacy to prepare octreotide according to hospital procedures. Now, let's inform the bed and family members to get started."

As soon as Han Qing finished speaking, Sun Zhiqiang, Nurse Zhao, Lin Ye, and Liu Zhenhua moved at the same time.

The infusion pump was reset, the telephone receiver was lifted up, and the record sheet was pressed under the medical record folder by Lin Ye.

Sun Zhiqiang called the endocrine monitoring ward.

Nurse Zhao adjusted the IV fluids.

Lin Ye added to the record.

Liu Zhenhua added "Unknown medication for diabetes, recurrent hypoglycemia" to the entry for Gu Jianguo.

The tour guide, standing nearby, asked in a low voice, "Is this also part of our tour group's business?"

Liu Zhenhua glanced at him.

"The person was left in your car."

The tour guide's lips moved, but he didn't say anything more.

He looked down to add Gu Jianguo's information to the seating chart. When he wrote "participating in the group alone," the tip of his pen poked a small hole in the paper.

Jiang Lei sent another message.

This time it wasn't the head of the department group; it was a catheterization lab nurse calling the emergency room.

Qin Hai put the phone on speakerphone.

"Jiang Lei is being transferred to the cardiology intensive care unit. His pain has subsided after the blood flow to his right coronary artery was restored, but he still needs to maintain his blood pressure with a small dose of vasopressors."

Someone shouted on the other end of the phone, and the nurse paused for half a second.

"Cardiac monitoring continues. The family is en route. Has the tour guide's identification information been completed?"

Upon hearing about his situation, the tour guide quickly handed over a copy of Jiang Lei's ID card.

My hands are shaking.

The paper almost fell to the ground.

Nurse Zhao took it.

"Stop shaking. The amount of tissues you've dropped tonight from your shaking hands is more than the amount of blood we've drawn."

The tour guide had a sour look on his face.

"I really don't dare to lead a tour group anymore."

Tang Zhendong's voice came through the phone, as if it had just squeezed out from behind a mask.

"Don't sleep yet. When Jiang Lei's family arrives, tell her not to cry and block the way in the corridor, but to come to the cardiology department for further monitoring and treatment instructions."

Qin Hai responded.

"Know."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Ye wrote the following after Jiang Lei's entry:

The proximal segment of the right coronary artery is occluded, but blood flow has been restored.

Pain relief.

Blood pressure and heart rate will continue to be monitored.

It's not safe.

It's only a temporary recapture of a section of the road.

He had just put down his pen when Xu Mingzhe from the Department of Infectious Diseases walked up to the whiteboard.

How many stool samples were sent?

Nurse Zhao flipped through the records.

"Four. Two others vomited so badly they didn't pass any."

"Shall we eat together?"

Liu Zhenhua handed the tour guide the messy, altered piece of paper.

"The cold dishes in the boxed meals at the service area were the most exposed. The first to fall ill were in the third and fourth rows, and then it spread to the seventh row. There is no bloody stool yet, but two people have a low-grade fever."

Xu Mingzhe circled a few places with a pen.

"Continue to isolate vomit and excrement. Report fever, bloody stools, lethargy, and persistent low blood pressure separately. Other members of the tour group should not wander around and should be observed until at least dawn."

A tourist in the observation area heard "Don't leave" and immediately stood up.

"I only had diarrhea once, and I have a schedule to catch tomorrow!"

Nurse Zhao turned her head.

"You're currently rushing through hospital procedures."

The man wanted to say something, but his companion pulled him back.

Yuan Guilan suddenly raised her hand.

The movements were very small.

Lin Ye saw it and walked over.

"Grandma Yuan, where do you feel unwell?"

The old man's lips moved a few times.

"I... need to pee."

Nurse Zhao immediately checked the urine bag.

There was more urine than before.

A new blood pressure reading popped up on the screen.

One hundred and two hundred and sixty-two.

Qin Hai glanced at it.

"The fluid resuscitation is effective. Do not remove monitoring; continue to monitor electrolytes and kidney function."

The on-call doctor in the gastroenterology department breathed a sigh of relief, closed Yuan Guilan's medical record, and then opened it again.

"The elderly patient was admitted to the gastroenterology department for observation, and the infectious disease department is also seeing them. What about the second elderly patient?"

The second elderly woman was named Tao Xiuzhen.

Seventy-six years old.

She vomited less than Yuan Guilan, but had diarrhea more often.

Blood pressure went from 78 or 48 to 96 or 56 after supplementation.

My heart rate is also fast.

Tao Xiuzhen's son is not in the local area, so she first asked on the phone if he could be transferred back to the hospital in her hometown.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hai's face immediately darkened.

"Transfer her now? She's just been pulled back from the brink of shock. What if her blood pressure drops again on the way? Are you going to take responsibility?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Tao Xiuzhen lay on the bed and weakly tugged at Nurse Zhao's clothes.

"Don't scold him... he doesn't know..."

Nurse Zhao tucked the blanket around her.

"Nobody yells at him, the director's voice is just naturally like that."

Qin Hai glanced at Nurse Zhao.

Nurse Zhao was looking down as she applied the tape, pretending not to see it.

The child finally opened his eyes and looked at his father.

"Dad, I'm hungry."

The child's father almost burst into tears.

"Can I eat? Doctor, he says he's hungry."

Liang Xiulan put the stethoscope back into her pocket.

"Don't eat anything yet. Give a small amount of oral rehydration salts and observe until you stop vomiting. Your potassium levels haven't been replenished enough, so don't leave tonight."

The child's father repeatedly agreed.

The word "hunger" made the child's father lower his head first.

Liang Xiulan put the stethoscope back in her pocket, and Nurse Zhao paused for a moment while applying the tape.

But for Gu Jianguo, it was time for a retest.

Nurse Zhao took the blood glucose meter and went over.

Han Qing stood by the bed, her eyes fixed on the screen.

This time, Gu Jianguo didn't dodge, but just asked groggily, "Still pricking me?"

Nurse Zhao took his hand.

"We'll keep stabbing you until you stop scaring us."

The blood glucose meter beeped.

3.0.

It didn't fall any further.

It didn't rise to a level that would reassure people.

Han Qing wrote this number into the record.

"continue."

Gu Jianguo's daughter heard the sound of a car door closing over the phone.

"Doctor, I'm almost there."

Han Qing took the phone.

"When you arrive, go to the emergency triage desk first. Don't try to find your way around. Make sure you have all your medications."

The woman said in a choked voice, "I brought it. I took the whole box from his bedside table."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ye suddenly recalled Gu Jianguo's words, "I didn't eat breakfast."

An old man, a bag of medicine, and a seat that wasn't counted.

I almost got lumped into the "tour group has diarrhea" category.

He looked away from the notepad.

The wall at the nurses' station is almost overflowing with sticky notes.

Nurse Zhao added a line to the note on the final night with a red pen.

What you see: An elderly person who is difficult to wake up, eats little, and has blood sugar-lowering medication in their medicine bag.

Don't do anything yet: Don't assume that just because someone is asleep, or that you've finished pushing the candy and then let it go.

Call the endocrinology department; admit the patient for monitoring if necessary.

After she finished writing, she turned to ask Lin Ye.

"Is this short enough?"

Lin Ye glanced at it.

"enough."

Liu Zhenhua squeezed over from the side and glanced at it.

"Okay, don't write the name of the disease, write something that can be seen."

Nurse Zhao was taken aback.

"When did you become so particular?"

Liu Zhenhua looked down and organized the seating chart.

"I've had my product rejected twice by the quality control office, I'm scared now."

Qin Hai couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Before the smile could even fade, hurried footsteps echoed from the doorway of the emergency room.

Gu Jianguo's daughter rushed in, her hair disheveled, holding a plastic storage box in her hands.

The lid wasn't closed properly.

Medicine blister packs, medical examination reports, and blood glucose record books were scattered all over the floor.

She squatted down to pick it up, but her hands were shaking so badly she couldn't manage it.

Lin Ye helped her hold down a strip of medicine that had rolled to her feet.

There was a sticky note on the back of the medicine box.

The text above reads:

Eat it before meals, don't forget.

Gu Jianguo heard his daughter's voice from his bed and his eyelids twitched.

"My little girl..."

The woman lunged at the bedside.

"Dad, I'm here."

The old man looked at her, but his eyes remained unfocused.

"For breakfast... don't buy me sweet soy milk..."

The woman's tears fell instantly.

Han Qing did not urge her to finish crying.

She took the box of medicine and flipped through it one strip at a time.

"This dosage is incorrect."

The woman looked up.

"What?"

Han Qing put the two blister packs of glibenclamide together.

"Your dad brought two kinds of packaging. One was the old medicine, and the other was the one you switched to later. He probably took them mixed up."

The woman's face turned deathly pale.

"I don't know... I thought he stopped eating the old stuff a long time ago."

Qin Hai looked at Lin Ye.

"Record."

Lin Ye tightened his grip on the pen.

2:47.

Gu Jian's family members arrived at the hospital.

They brought both old and current hypoglycemic drugs.

There is a possibility of duplicate medication.

The risk of recurrent hypoglycemia remains.

He had just finished writing the last line when the system interface jumped.

[Final Night Main Storyline High Risk: Entering Effective Treatment Procedure.]

[Zero Mortality ER Week: Final Night Assessment in Progress.]

It's not finished.

It's not a settlement either.

Lin Ye looked up.

Han Qing was examining medicine beside Gu Jianguo's bed.

Jiang Lei has been transferred to the cardiology intensive care unit.

Yuan Guilan and Tao Xiuzhen were still receiving intravenous fluids.

The child's IV pump was still flashing intermittently.

The sticky note at the nurses' station had one corner curled up by the wind.

Qin Hai reached out and pressed it back against the wall.

"No one should rush to announce good news before dawn."