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

"Send more blood."

Only these three words were left at the operating room.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Hai did not immediately put his phone back in his pocket.

He pressed his knuckles against the phone, leaving a white mark on his fingertips from the phone's frame.

The red light in the operating room corridor was still on.

A sliver of cold white light peeked out from under the door crack, and the sound of the suction device inside could be heard through the door panel, as if something was being continuously pulled out.

Liang Shumin's wife sat on the side of the bench.

She was still holding her phone in one hand.

On the other end of the screen, the son's voice came through intermittently.

"mom?"

"Mom, say something!"

The woman's lips moved twice, but she didn't answer.

Nurse Zhao supported her shoulder and used her other hand to press down on her sliding arm.

"Sit tight first."

Nurse Zhao's voice was already hoarse.

She didn't head towards the emergency room; instead, she took off her walkie-talkie and handed it to the night shift support nurse who had arrived.

"Liang Shumin's family is here. She was brought into the operating room with low blood pressure and was still needing blood during the surgery. Please help her up whenever she stands up, so she doesn't fall."

The night shift support nurse held the walkie-talkie to her chest and nodded.

"I'm keeping an eye on it."

Nurse Zhao then took a half step back.

She leaned against the wall and pressed her fingers twice on her forehead.

A piece of white paint on the wall was knocked off by the cart, revealing the gray cement underneath.

Nobody had time to look.

Qin Hai turned around.

"Sun Zhiqiang, Blood Transfusion Department."

Sun Zhiqiang was already making a phone call.

"They're hitting."

He lowered his voice as soon as the call connected.

"Emergency room, Liang Shumin. The operating room needs more blood. Where's the second bag? Has the third bag been prepared?"

I don't know what was said on the other end of the line.

Sun Zhiqiang frowned immediately.

Don't tell me it's currently undergoing nuclear testing.

He glanced up at the red light in the operating room, then swallowed the rest of his words.

"I know we need to verify. There's massive intraoperative bleeding right now, and Director Qin is here. The emergency blood transfusion procedure has already been completed, the records are being finalized, and we can't wait."

Qin Hai put his phone back in his pocket.

"Lin Ye, back to the emergency room."

Lin Ye looked toward the operating room door.

The door didn't move.

There were no new phone numbers inside.

This is more stressful than a ringing phone.

Qin Hai snapped the empty box shut with a click.

"If you stand here watching a red light, the blood won't just start flowing out on its own."

Lin Ye withdrew his gaze.

"clear."

Ma Hao followed, carrying the emergency record folder.

The corners of the binder were fuzzy, and the papers inside were wrinkled from sweat and disinfectant.

Qin Hai walked and talked:

"Remember the location clearly."

"Nurse Zhao stayed with her family outside the operating room, and the night shift support nurse took over her walkie-talkie."

"Sun Zhiqiang went to chase after the blood."

"Ma Hao supplements the emergency record."

"Lin Ye, come back to the emergency room with me."

Each sentence felt like nailing a person back to their original position.

Lin Ye nodded.

"Liang Shumin continued to request blood during the operation. His family members were at the operating room door. His son was online by phone, and his wife had signed the consent form for the surgery, anesthesia, and blood transfusion on site."

Qin Hai glanced at him.

"Write this sentence in the handover."

When the two returned to the emergency room, a different group of footsteps had already entered through the door of the resuscitation room.

Another night shift nurse pushed the treatment cart over, the wheels rolling over a dried water mark on the ground, making a slight sticky sound.

The cotton swab bags left over from the night shift haven't been cleaned up yet.

The monitor's alarm kept going off, like someone banging on a piece of metal in the corner of the wall.

The water-sealed bottle on Shen Qingyuan's side was still hanging by the bed.

Occasionally, a string of small air bubbles emerges from the transparent tube.

His complexion was a little better than when he first arrived, but he still dared not breathe heavily when he spoke.

The on-call thoracic surgeon stood by the bed, his sleeves wrinkled and a dark circle under his eyes.

"The follow-up X-ray showed that part of the lung has re-expanded."

He clipped the film onto the lightbox.

"It's still leaking air; keep monitoring the water seal bottle. Don't let him get out of bed on his own, and don't relax just because his blood oxygen levels have improved."

Lin Ye glanced at the monitor.

Blood oxygen 95.

Heart rate 116.

It's better than before.

But it's not good enough to let go of.

Qin Hai asked:

"Thoracic surgery department admitted?"

"receive."

The doctor on duty rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"The bed is being coordinated. Wait in the emergency ICU first, I'll have the on-call doctor in the ward answer the phone."

Qin Hai nodded.

"Make it clear that there is still air leakage after closed drainage, and we need to wait for a thoracic surgery bed."

Ma Hao wrote quickly in the notebook.

The pen tip glides across the paper with a soft, scratching sound.

His handwriting was crooked than usual.

When writing the words "still leaking air", the pen tip paused for a moment.

Lin Ye noticed that the back of his hand was trembling.

Qin Hai saw it too.

"Ma Hao."

Ma Hao immediately looked up.

"director?"

"Once you finish this page, hand it to the on-duty training staff. Go to the duty room and take a 20-minute nap."

Ma Hao was stunned for a moment.

"I can still..."

Qin Hai interrupted him directly.

"If you write a time wrong now, someone else will have to fix it for you later."

Ma Hao pursed his lips tightly.

He didn't argue anymore.

"I'll go as soon as I finish writing."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Zhiqiang quickly returned from the other end of the corridor.

He was carrying a refrigerated box.

The corner of the box hit the door frame with a dull thud.

"We got the second bag."

His forehead was covered in sweat.

The edges of the mask were soaked with sweat and stuck to my face.

"The third bag of blood is being crossmatched, and plasma is also being prepared. The blood transfusion department said they need to contact the inventory of platelets, and they may not be available immediately."

Qin Hai reached out and took the box.

"Take him to the operating room."

Sun Zhiqiang took a breath.

"I'll go."

"You just ran back from the blood transfusion department."

Qin Hai handed the box to the night shift nurse.

"You deliver it."

The night shift nurse took the box and ran away.

The ice packs in the cold chain box gently bumped against the inner wall.

The sound traveled towards the operating room.

Sun Zhiqiang stood there, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"I'll keep chasing the third bag."

Qin Hai didn't complain about how hard it was.

He simply pointed to the landline phone next to the nurses' station.

"Use a landline to call. Keep your mobile phone for the operating room."

Sun Zhiqiang walked over.

He kicked the chair out, and the chair leg scraped across the ground.

When he sat down, his whole body sank down.

But he had already dialed the number.

Lin Ye had just added Shen Qingyuan's follow-up examination time to the handover sheet when the phone in the interventional room rang again.

Qin Hai glanced at the caller ID.

Vascular surgery.

He pressed the speakerphone button.

The voice on the other end of the phone was mixed with the sound of machines running.

"As for Xu Jianmin, some blood flow has been restored to the main trunk, but the tension in his calf is still high. The fasciotomy for decompression has been completed."

"The distal perfusion is a little better than before, but the muscle color isn't very good."

"Don't tell the family yet that the leg has been saved."

Qin Hai looked at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye had already put his pen down on the paper.

"Continue to monitor for reperfusion risk, recheck potassium, myoglobin, and lactate levels, and observe urine output."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Yes. Also, the family asked if a conclusion could be reached tonight; could you help them deflect that question?"

Qin Hai said calmly:

"The emergency room doesn't report good news to the operating room."

"We'll talk again once you have some preliminary results."

The phone hangs up.

Xu Jianmin's daughter was still standing next to the nurses' station.

The cap of the pen in her hand had been chewed out of shape.

Seeing Qin Hai look up, she took half a step forward.

"Doctor, is my dad...is his leg saved?"

Qin Hai did not avoid her.

He placed the phone record sheet on the table.

"The bleeding is a little better than before."

The woman's eyes lit up immediately.

Qin Hai lowered his voice even further when he said the next sentence.

"But we can't say we've saved it yet."

The light then dimmed again.

She held the pen cap between her fingers, the plastic edge digging into her fingertips.

Qin Hai pointed to the record sheet.

"Now we need to monitor the calf muscle response, blood potassium, myoglobin, urine output, and distal blood supply. What I fear most tonight isn't a piece of good news, but that you'll relax after hearing it."

The woman did not cry.

She just nodded vigorously.

It wasn't until the second tap that my eyes started to redden.

"I'll wait."

"Don't stand here."

Sun Zhiqiang was still holding the landline receiver when he took a moment to point to the chair next to him.

"You're standing in the passageway, the flatbed cart can't get through."

That's not a kind thing to say.

But it works.

The woman stepped aside and sat down, her knee hitting the chair leg with a soft thud.

Lin Ye wrote Xu Jianmin's progress report into the handover sheet.

There was no "success".

There was no "saving".

Only a string of dry words:

Blood flow to the main trunk has partially recovered.

After fasciotomy for decompression.

Distal perfusion still needs to be observed.

Repeat the tests for electrolytes, myoglobin, lactate, and urine output.

After writing the last word, the edge of his eyes suddenly felt cold.

A light blue system frame appears in the corner of the field of view.

[High-risk patients are under continuous monitoring in the emergency department.]

[Liang Shumin: Suffered massive bleeding during surgery, still undergoing emergency treatment.]

[Xu Jianmin: During the limb-sparing procedure, distal perfusion needs to be evaluated.]

[Shen Qingyuan: Monitoring is still required after closed drainage.]

[Zhou Hang: The surgical procedure is underway, and the patient is still at risk.]

Current status: All pending.

Lin Ye tightened his grip on the pen.

All cases remain unresolved.

These four words carry more weight than any alarm.

No one in the emergency room knew what he saw.

They only heard the phone ring again.

This time, it was the cell phone in Qin Hai's pocket.

He answered the call.

"Qin Hai".

The voice on the other end of the phone was lower than before.

The vascular surgeon's breathing was heavy, as if he had a cell phone between his shoulder and ear.

"The second bag has arrived."

Qin Hai remained silent.

He waited for the next sentence.

The sounds of the equipment stopped for a moment.

"Part of the aorta is trapped in the rupture."

Next to the nurses' station, Sun Zhiqiang stopped holding the landline receiver.

Lin Ye also raised his head.

He quickly added another sentence over the phone:

"But my blood pressure is still being managed with vasopressors, and I'm urinating very little."

"Don't let the family think the person is stable."

Qin Hai closed his eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, they were terribly red.

"Know."

"We're chasing the third bag of blood."

He hung up the phone without turning around immediately.

Lin Ye noticed that his shoulders and back tensed for two seconds.

Then Qin Hai put his phone back in his pocket.

"Linye."

"Go to the operating room door and speak to the family."

Lin Ye stood up.

Qin Hai looked at him.

"I'll just say three things."

"The blood has arrived."

"The opening clamped down on part of it."

"The person is not stable yet."

Lin Ye nodded.

As he walked out of the emergency room, the night shift support nurse who had delivered the blood was returning from the direction of the operating room.

Her gloves were damp from the cold chain box, and her fingertips were white.

"The blood has been sent in."

Lin Ye responded.

At the end of the corridor, the red light in the operating room was still on.

Liang Shumin's wife was still sitting on that bench.

Nurse Zhao did not return to the emergency room.

She sat next to the woman, holding a half-cold glass of water.

When she saw Lin Ye coming over, Nurse Zhao only raised her eyes slightly.

I didn't ask about the result.

She placed the half-full glass of water under the chair and reached out to support the woman's arm.

The woman immediately stood up.

The phone screen was still lit.

The son on the other end of the phone fell silent.

Lin Ye stopped in front of her.

His gaze fell on the woman's tightly clenched hands.

Her fingernails dug into her palms, and her palm lines were full of sweat.

"The blood has arrived."

The woman made a soft sound in her throat.

Lin Ye did not stop.

"The doctor has already clamped part of the rupture inside."

The woman's eyes widened suddenly.

I heard my son gasp for breath on the other end of the phone.

Lin Ye suppressed his third sentence.

"But the person is not stable yet."

The red light above the operating room door was reflected on the floor tiles.

It was a dark, dull red.

"My blood pressure needs medication to manage, I'm urinating very little, and I'll have to keep going."

The woman's lips trembled.

This time, she understood.

She slowly sat back down on the bench.

Nurse Zhao supported her without saying much.

On the other end of the phone, the son's voice was hoarse.

"Doctor, what can we do now?"

Lin Ye looked at the red light.

"Don't hang up."

"If your mother signs the consent form, completes her medical history, and confirms her medication, we need to be able to find you immediately."

The person on the other end of the phone immediately replied:

"I won't hang up."

Lin Ye nodded.

He turned and walked toward the emergency room.

I had only taken two steps when I heard footsteps coming from inside the operating room.

The circulating nurse poked half her body out from inside.

Her eyes above her mask looked anxious.

"Emergency room!"

Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.

The circulating nurse handed over a temporary blood transfusion form.

The paper still had the dampness from the gloves on it.

"Don't stop at the third bag."

"They said inside, the blood has arrived, but the person is still not stable."