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

On the other end of the phone, Tang Zhendong didn't immediately start cursing.

The first sound from the speakerphone was a series of hurried footsteps, the soles of shoes scraping against the corridor floor, followed by the soft sound of a metal door being pushed open.

"Don't move the camera."

The cardiologist at the bedside stopped his wrist.

The grayish-white ultrasound images were still flashing on the screen. The screen light fell on the back of his hand, pressing a wet, shiny edge around the coupling gel under the probe.

Lu Yifan lay on the monitoring bed, his school uniform jacket rolled up to the side, with electrode pads attached to his chest, defibrillation patches already in place, and wires connected.

The defibrillator was right next to the bed.

The screen was on, and the standby light was flashing.

No one touched the charging button.

Qin Hai's gaze swept across the machine and then fell back onto the monitor.

Heart rate 128.

Blood pressure is 98 to 60.

The boy's fingers gripped the bed sheet tightly, his knuckles white and stiff.

His mother stood at the foot of the bed, still holding the pen in her hand, the cap having fallen to the floor sometime during the night. Lin Ye bent down, picked it up, and placed it next to the signature board.

The signature board contains the information for intensive care observation, hospitalization assessment, and informed consent for examinations.

She pressed several creases into the paper, and the ink in the signature section was still wet.

Lu Yifan's name was placed at the very top.

The bedside monitor kept beeping.

When Tang Zhendong entered the emergency area, only one button was fastened on his coat.

He didn't look at Lin Ye, nor did he look at Qin Hai first.

I put on gloves and stood directly in front of the ultrasound screen next to the bed.

"Don't remove the probe yet, scan this area again."

The doctor at the bedside pressed his wrist down.

The gray-white image on the screen flickered, then stabilized.

Tang Zhendong's eyes were fixed on the center of the screen, and his finger tapped the edge of the machine.

"This doesn't look right, but bedside ultrasound can only provide a rough assessment."

He reached for the application form next to the ultrasound machine.

Has a formal echocardiogram been performed?

"It's open; the ultrasound department has already called for help."

"Please write down the details clearly. Chest pain after exercise, fainting, family history of sudden death at a young age, abnormal electrocardiogram, suspected ventricular septal thickening. Also, please examine the aortic root carefully."

When he mentioned "the root of the aorta," Lu Yifan's mother looked up slightly.

"He can't go home today, and he can't be put in a regular ward either."

The woman's lips moved.

"Has it been confirmed that it's a very serious illness?"

Tang Zhendong handed the probe back, his voice a little lower than before.

"It's not certain yet."

He pointed to the monitor on the bedside table.

"But the risk is very high. We can't treat it as just being tired from running around until the formal examination results are available."

Lu Yifan kept looking at him.

His grip on the bed sheet loosened for a moment, then quickly tightened again.

"Is my dad like that too?"

The woman at the foot of the bed trembled.

The signing board bumped against the bed rail with a very soft sound.

Tang Zhendong did not respond immediately.

Qin Hai untied the monitoring cable that was pressing against the bed rail, and his fingertip was marked with a red mark from the plastic cable.

We don't know what happened to your father back then.

He repositioned the wire back onto the edge of the bed.

"But you fainted today, had chest pain, and your electrocardiogram was abnormal. What we can do is keep an eye on you and make sure nothing happens to you in the hallway, in the ward, or on your way home."

Lu Yifan's Adam's apple bobbed.

He gripped the sheets tighter and didn't mention running again.

The cardiologist at the bedside entered the medical orders into the computer one by one.

Continuous electrocardiogram monitoring.

Appointment for dynamic electrocardiogram recording.

Formal echocardiography and aortic root assessment.

Magnesium, calcium, and troponin levels were tested.

The pediatrician on duty stood on the other side and clipped the minor's hospitalization assessment form into the medical record folder.

"The pediatrics department receives notifications from the guardians and families of minors."

She lowered her head to recheck the wristband, her voice low but steady.

"The child will stay here, in the intensive care unit. I will complete the medical records, and I will sign the family statement."

Tang Zhendong nodded.

"The cardiology department connects to the heart."

He turned to Qin Hai.

"Don't keep us in the emergency room until after dawn. I'll take the patient, but they need a bed with intensive care; a regular ward won't do."

Qin Hai kept clutching the electrocardiogram chart.

The paper edges were damp with sweat, and fingerprints were pressed next to the red wavy lines.

Hearing this, he finally relaxed a little.

"If you keep it, I'll hand it over."

Don't talk like I owe you something.

Tang Zhendong said coldly, but his hand had already picked up his phone to call the cardiology ward.

"Keep him in a ICU bed."

He glanced at Lu Yifan on the bed.

"Sixteen years old, chest pain and fainting after exercise, the heart rate is very high. Pediatricians are already present, don't ask why it's not an adult patient. We need a bed now, not to discuss who gets it."

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

Tang Zhendong's face darkened.

"I've seen it myself."

After he said that, there was a half-second of silence on the other end of the phone.

Lu Yifan's mother reached out and clenched the pen cap next to the signature board into her palm.

The plastic bump pressed against her fingertip until it turned white.

Lin Ye noticed that her hands were trembling.

He didn't say "It's okay".

No one in the emergency room dared to use those two words.

At the nurses' station, the morning light was already streaming in through the glass doors of the emergency room, illuminating the corners of the handover logbook.

The day shift doctor has arrived.

There were three sheets of paper pressed on the handover log.

One of them is Lu Yifan's electrocardiogram.

One of the photos is a blood transfusion record for an elderly patient with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

There's another one, which is Liang Shumin's progress record that was just sent back from the intensive care unit.

Nurse Zhao slapped the record sheet onto the notebook, a piece of rolled-up tape still stuck to the back of her hand.

Her voice was terribly hoarse.

"After the second bag of blood was finished, the blood pressure stabilized temporarily. The patient stopped vomiting after the gastroscopy, but the black stool is still present, so the drainage needs to be monitored. The gastroenterology department hasn't been withdrawn, and I've left my contact information with general surgery and interventional radiology; they can call immediately if the condition worsens."

The day shift nurse looked down and made a mark.

"Blood transfusion observation, repeat hemoglobin and coagulation tests, continue fasting and monitoring. I'm in charge."

Qin Hai stood to the side without saying a word.

Nurse Zhao turned to the next page.

The edges of the paper were wrinkled from the sweat on her hands.

"Don't report back to Liang Shumin that everything is alright. The tubes haven't been removed, the vasopressors are still on, and his blood clotting and temperature haven't stabilized. If the family asks again, just say he's still in the intensive care unit."

The call to the intensive care unit just went through.

The hoarse voice of the on-duty doctor came through the speakerphone.

"Urine output has just increased slightly, so the vasopressor cannot be discontinued. Another set of plasma tests is needed, and I'll follow up on the coagulation retest. What stage have you reached in explaining things to the family in the ER?"

The deputy director on the day shift took the receiver.

"I'll take over the emergency room and continue the conversation with the family. Follow the intensive care protocol. If you need any blood products, contact the blood transfusion department and the on-call doctor directly."

He paused for a moment and looked at Qin Hai.

"No need to look for Qin Hai on the night shift anymore."

Qin Hai looked up.

The other person was also looking at him.

"What are you standing there for? Handing over the shift."

These two words are more effective than insults.

Qin Hai handed over the emergency record folder he was holding.

The clips were thick, with dried disinfectant stuck to the edges, and the metal clasps were stiff from being bent.

"Don't move Lu Yifan to a regular bed; reserve him for emergency monitoring. Tang Zhendong will handle the heart issue, and the pediatrics department will be responsible for informing the child and his family."

He paused for a moment, then added another sentence.

"The defibrillator is right next to the bed, the patch is attached, but the machine isn't charging and it hasn't defibrillated. Don't transfer me to a regular ward until the full ultrasound and follow-up results are available."

The deputy director on the day shift took the record folder.

"Know."

He turned to the last page and saw a few lines of text that Lin Ye had added.

Chest pain after exercise.

Brief fainting.

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

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is abnormal.

Monitoring shows short bursts of irregular waveforms.

After the deputy director on the day shift finished reading it, he didn't ask "why".

He folded a corner of that page.

"Linye."

Lin Ye looked up from in front of the computer.

There were still unsaved medical records on the screen. The light reflected in his eyes, making the whites of his eyes appear extremely red.

He was a beat too slow to react.

"I'll continue writing this part. You add the final time points, then go to sleep."

Lin Ye's hands were still resting on the keyboard.

Qin Hai reached out and dragged the keyboard half an inch toward himself.

"Can't understand?"

Lin Ye looked at him.

Qin Hai's face was also pale, with stubble growing out and the mask pressing two deep marks on the bridge of his nose.

But his voice left no room for negotiation.

"Emergency room work isn't something one person can handle alone."

Lin Ye's fingertips loosened from the keyboard.

He picked up his pen and wrote the last time point into the handover log.

7:26.

Tang Zhendong from the Department of Cardiology was present to review the findings.

The pediatric ward will provide information regarding monitoring and observation.

Day shift follow-up examinations and transfer to intensive care unit procedures.

When the pen stopped, the system window lit up slightly at the edge of his field of vision.

The high-risk line has entered the multi-disciplinary follow-up process.

[Current risk: Not yet resolved.]

[Shift handover completeness: Effective.]

Lin Ye blinked.

Those few lines of text faded away quickly.

Tang Zhendong was still checking the ultrasound time by the bedside. The pediatrician on duty bent down to explain the hospitalization process to Lu Yifan's mother again.

The day shift nurses pushed in new monitoring record sheets and tore off the night shift's roll.

The clip is pressed down, and it clicks.

The roll of paper for the night shift was tucked under the clipboard.

The new paper for the day shift was pressed on.

Lin Ye's hand slowly left the edge of the table.

Qin Hai picked up Lin Ye's phone from beside the computer and stuffed it into the pocket of his white coat.

"Duty room."

Lin Ye subconsciously looked into the emergency area.

Lu Yifan's monitor was still beeping.

The blood transfusion pump next to the old man's bed was still running.

The call to the intensive care unit hadn't ended yet.

Another flatbed truck wheel rolled over the paving stones at the entrance of the emergency room.

The deputy director of the day shift blocked his way.

"go out."

Nurse Zhao pulled a thin blanket from the cabinet and stuffed it into Lin Ye's arms.

There was a pale yellow medicine stain on the edge of the thin blanket that couldn't be washed off.

"The narrow bed in the duty room is empty. Even if I can't sleep, I just close my eyes."

She pointed towards the nurses' station.

"The day shift has already taken over."

Qin Hai was also pushed by her.

"Director Qin, the deputy director has taken the case; he's on the day shift. If you stay here any longer, you'll have to take on the next case soon."

Qin Hai opened his mouth.

In the end, I just pulled the mask down a little bit.

"Call me if you need anything."

The deputy director of the day shift tucked the handover book under his arm.

"Sleep until noon. I'll wake you up if you can't handle the day shift anymore, not every time a gurney comes in."

Qin Hai did not argue further.

When he turned around, his shoulders slumped noticeably.

Lin Ye hugged the thin blanket and followed him out of the emergency room.

The light at the entrance to the duty room was still on.

The phone vibrated in his pocket, then stopped.

The handover log is left at the nurses' station.

The emergency room alarm is still ringing.

The deputy director of the day shift kept his arm pressed down on the handover book, without letting go.