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

When the defibrillator was pushed to the bedside, the wheel got stuck.

The old IV patch on the ground was caught in the wheel seam. The night shift nurse bent down and pulled it, making a sticky sound as the adhesive was pulled.

The machine's power is on, the green indicator light is flashing, and the electrode plates are still attached to the base.

Qin Hai glanced at it.

"Keep it in hand."

"Don't use electricity yet."

The night shift nurse didn't ask any further questions.

She tore open the defibrillation patch packaging, put the patch on her chest, connected the wires, and the machine remained in standby mode without pressing the charging button.

Lu Yifan lay on the bed, his eyes fixed on the machine.

The irregular waveform from before has already passed.

Qin Hai glanced at the lead wires first.

The edges of the electrode pads remained firmly attached and were not pushed off by sweat.

On the monitor, the heart rate returned to around 120.

The waveforms on the screen are now aligned.

But several hands remained in place by the bedside.

Qin Hai pointed to the screen.

"Could you print out that monitoring tape from earlier?"

Night shift nurses should press the following keys.

The monitor ejected a narrow strip of paper.

The thermal paper had just come out, and the edges were still curled.

Lin Ye took it.

The black waves were squeezed into a small section on the paper.

not long.

The teacher stood at the foot of the bed, her fingers tightening around the whistle string, the edge of the plastic whistle digging into her palm.

"Doctor, was that a heart problem?"

He didn't say the words "his heart stopped".

Qin Hai pressed the paper strip next to the two electrocardiograms.

"It's not time to draw conclusions yet."

"But this child cannot get out of bed, cannot go to the toilet, and cannot leave the care of a guardian."

The teacher nodded.

After ordering, he looked at Lu Yifan again.

Lu Yifan's lips moved slightly.

"I don't feel pain anymore."

This sentence was spoken very softly.

After he finished speaking, he clenched the bed sheet in his palm again.

Qin Hai leaned down to look at him.

"No pain doesn't mean it's safe."

Lu Yifan's fingers gripped the bed sheet.

The sheet was soaked with sweat, and the wrinkles were piled up under my palm.

At the other end of the resuscitation area, the suction device was still running.

The elderly patient with upper gastrointestinal bleeding had just had the second bag of blood inserted.

The cold chain container was left open next to the ambulance, with water dripping from the ice packs down the sides of the container.

When the gastroenterologist was adding words to the endoscopy record, he paused when he wrote "temporarily clamped" and then added "continue to observe".

On this side, the electrode pads on Lu Yifan's chest were still attached, the lead wires were wrapped around the bed rails, and the defibrillator was in standby mode.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, the sound of shoes followed along the corridor.

The chief resident of the cardiology department walked to the bedside and first looked down at the electrocardiogram photos sent by Qin Hai.

His name tag was slightly crooked, and the mask left marks on his nose. He held a stethoscope in one hand and a phone in the other.

The screen was still showing the electrocardiogram photo that Qin Hai had sent.

"What about the strips?"

Qin Hai handed over the piece of the guardianship document.

He flattened the paper strip and put it together with two 12-lead electrocardiograms.

Under the emergency light, the black lines on three sheets of paper were lined up in a row.

He looks at the rhythm first.

Next, let's look at the chest leads.

Finally, my gaze settled on the line about family history.

My father died suddenly during exercise at the age of thirty-five.

His fingertip pressed against the line of text.

"Has Mother arrived yet?"

The teacher immediately looked up.

"On the way, say 'immediately'."

He looked up at the teacher's phone.

"Tell her not to drive fast."

"At a time like this, if something happens to the family members, your school will have even less room to explain."

The teacher's Adam's apple bobbed, and he immediately dialed the phone again.

This time he didn't post it in the class group chat.

My phone was pressed against my ear, and my hand kept shaking.

The pediatrician on duty also rushed to the door.

She glanced at Lu Yifan first, then looked at the cardiologist by the bedside.

"Sixteen years old?"

"First year of high school."

"I had chest pain and felt dizzy after running, and the ECG was abnormal. The monitor just showed a short band that looked like an abnormal heart rhythm."

He pushed the paper strip towards her.

"My father died suddenly during exercise at the age of thirty-five."

The pediatrician on duty immediately stopped expressing his emotions.

"Let's treat it as high-risk cardiac origin for now."

She didn't rush to the cardiology department.

"I'll take over the minor's case simultaneously; I'll also submit a supplementary report on guardianship and observation, hospitalization assessment, and notification to the family."

He nodded.

"Has the blood been drawn yet?"

The incoming nurse opened the testing platform. Several items on the screen were still grayed out, but the electrolytes section lit up first.

"The blood test is still running. The electrolytes have recovered somewhat: potassium 4.1 and sodium 139."

His hand stopped on the last few columns.

"What about magnesium, calcium, and troponin?"

"They haven't replied yet."

He placed his phone next to the emergency record folder.

"Even if troponin levels are normal, it cannot be released."

"Fainting after exercise, coupled with a family history of sudden death, means we should hold the person in place as there is a risk of complications, and not rush to release them."

"Push the bedside ultrasound closer, let me take a quick look first."

He picked up the probe.

The probe cable comes out from the side of the machine, and there are several places where the outer casing is worn white.

Lin Ye handed over the coupling agent.

The plastic bottle was almost empty; when it was squeezed out, a vacancy appeared.

He placed the probe on Lu Yifan's chest.

The boy shrank his shoulder as soon as the cold coupling gel was applied.

"Don't move."

Qin Hai pressed down on his shoulder.

The force was not strong.

But it's very stable.

On the screen, the gray-white shadow of a heart jumped up.

It was very noisy in the emergency room.

But the people around the bed were all staring at that small screen.

He changed the angle of the probe twice.

This made Lu Yifan hold his breath a little longer.

The boy had just taken a breath when his chest tightened slightly again.

Lin Ye saw his hands. His fingers were slender, his wrist bones were prominent, and his thumb almost crossed the edge of his palm when it crossed the palm.

The details from just now by the bedside resurfaced. Lin Ye didn't write them on the diagnosis form, but simply moved the pen to the vital signs section.

The first line only lists the vital signs, and the following lines are left blank.

The record sheet was pressed down by his left hand, with the electrocardiogram paper, monitoring strips, and the family history that the teacher had just relayed crammed underneath.

A light blue system frame briefly floated at the edge of the field of view.

[High-risk level upgraded: Exercise-related syncope combined with a family history of sudden death.]

Current status: Under continuous monitoring.

Lin Ye only glanced at it.

The next second, he shifted his gaze back to the ultrasound screen.

He stopped the probe on a cut surface.

His brows furrowed even lower.

"The interventricular septum appears to be thicker than normal."

Qin Hai looked at him.

"You can only get a cursory look at what's next to the bed."

"A formal echocardiogram is needed, and the root of the aorta should also be clearly seen at the same time."

"We'll discuss the subsequent tests once the official results are available; it's not time to draw conclusions now."

The boy's fingers were still resting on the edge of the bed, his slender knuckles pressing against the sheets.

Lin Ye pushed the record sheet up half an inch and added after the reason for the examination: Formal cardiac ultrasound, aortic root.

Another line was added at the end: Fainting after exercise requires ruling out cardiac risks.

A series of hurried car noises came from the emergency room entrance.

A dozen seconds later, a woman ran in.

The zipper on her work jacket was only half-zipped up, and her name tag was hanging upside down on her chest.

His hair was ruffled by the wind, and sweat clung to his forehead.

"Yifan!"

Lu Yifan immediately turned his head.

"mom."

The woman rushed to the bedside, but her hand was blocked halfway by the monitoring cable at the head of the bed.

Her hand froze in mid-air.

The emergency room nurse tidied the stitches to the side.

"Don't cross the line."

The woman nodded and gently touched Lu Yifan's forehead with her fingertips.

"Where do you feel unwell?"

Lu Yifan pursed his lips.

"It's much better now."

Upon hearing this, the woman's eyes immediately welled up with tears.

But she didn't cry out loud.

She simply pulled her hand back and gripped her employee ID card.

The transparent card holder clicked loudly when squeezed.

The cardiologist looked at her.

"Are you the mother?"

The woman nodded.

"I am."

"My child had chest pain and fainted once after running. The electrocardiogram and monitoring results were not good."

He spoke very slowly.

"In addition, the emergency room just asked us and found out that the child's father died suddenly during exercise at the age of 35."

The woman's hand gripping the bed rails sank down, her nails scraping against the metal bars with a soft sound.

Lu Yifan stared at her.

"Mom, wasn't Dad's accidental?"

The phone was still ringing in the emergency room.

The landline at the nurses' station was still ringing, but no one reached out to answer the call for her.

The woman's lips moved a few times.

Finally, she squatted down beside the bed.

His line of sight was level with Lu Yifan's.

"It's not the kind of fall your grandma was talking about."

Her voice was very low.

"Your dad was playing basketball that day, and after he collapsed, he never woke up again."

Lu Yifan's fingers slowly loosened the bed sheet.

He squeezed it back little by little.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

The woman clutched her work badge in her palm.

The edge of the card holder rubbed against her fingertips until they turned white.

"I thought if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't have to be afraid."

The teacher stood at the foot of the bed, her lips moved, but she didn't say the words "ran too fast" again.

He took the whistle off his neck.

The plastic whistle left a red mark on my palm.

"Doctor, I let him sit for a while."

"I thought this was normal after running."

Qin Hai did not scold him.

He only glanced at the electrocardiogram chart next to the portable bed.

"From now on, if you experience chest pain or fainting after exercising at school, don't help you to the side to rest."

"Call 120 first."

The teacher nodded.

This time, he didn't rush to explain.

The pediatrician on duty placed the informed consent form onto the emergency record folder.

"First, sign the informed consent form for monitoring and observation, hospitalization assessment, and examination."

The woman looked up, her hand already reaching for the pen.

"Do you need surgery?"

"This is not the time for you to sign the surgery consent form."

The pediatrician on duty uncapped the pen and pushed the paper closer to her.

"First, get the child into the monitoring process. Continuous ECG monitoring, echocardiogram, and repeat blood tests are all necessary."

She glanced at the defibrillator by the bedside.

"If it really comes to emergency treatment, we'll follow the emergency procedures. If more extensive treatment is required later, we'll discuss it with you separately."

The woman took the pen.

The first stroke went slightly off-center.

She pressed the paper down again.

After she finished writing her name, her phone kept vibrating in her pocket.

She didn't answer.

The cardiologist had already picked up his phone.

The screen displayed Tang Zhendong's number.

He didn't dial immediately.

First, take a picture of the bedside ultrasound image.

They also took an electrocardiogram and monitoring tape.

Then I pressed the call button.

The phone rang three times.

Tang Zhendong's hoarse voice came from the other end.

"The emergency room?"

The cardiologist put his phone on speakerphone.

"Doctor, there's a sixteen-year-old in the emergency room."

"I experienced chest pain and fainted once after exercising."

The cardiologist pressed the electrocardiogram closer to the phone while keeping his eyes fixed on the monitoring strips.

"The chest leads are incorrect; the monitor just showed a short burst of irregular waveforms."

"My father died suddenly during exercise at the age of thirty-five."

The breathing on the other end of the phone paused for a moment.

"Where is he?"

"Monitoring position next to the emergency resuscitation area."

"Where's the defibrillator?"

Qin Hai glanced at the head of the bed.

"By the bedside."

The sound of a chair being pushed away came from Tang Zhendong's side.

"Don't send him to a regular ward."

"Schedule a formal echocardiogram now."

"Keep the continuous ECG monitoring connected, and schedule the Holter monitoring session first."

"Magnesium, calcium, troponin, report the results to me as soon as you get back."

"This child cannot leave the guardian's care today."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yifan's monitor beeped softly again.

It's not a police report.

The heart rate simply jumped from 118 to 132.

The boy looked at the defibrillator beside the bed.

His lips moved.

"Does this mean I won't be able to run anymore?"

His mother's hand was still on the signature board, the pen tip resting on the last column.

She looked up at the doctor, her lips moved, but she didn't ask a question.

The static in the speakerphone was slightly cleared up.

Tang Zhendong's voice came over.

"Let's check the examination first."

The cardiologist lowered the ultrasound probe back down.

The gray shadow on the screen jumped up again.

This time, he stared for even longer.

His gaze remained fixed on the ultrasound screen.

"Director, you'd better take a look at the interventricular septum yourself."