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

The light outside the intensive care unit is whiter than the light outside the interventional radiology department.

When the woman was wheeled over, the temporary monitor on the stretcher was still hanging on the side of the bed, its wires looping under the bed rails, which the anesthesiologist reached out and retrieved. The oxygen cylinder made two muffled thuds against the grout in the floor tiles, its old label sticking out at the corner, swaying back and forth with the stretcher.

The husband followed her to the outside of the yellow line, where he suddenly stopped.

Someone came to take the bed from inside the door.

"Connect the monitoring cable first, but don't tuck it under the bed rails."

"Keep the oxygen supply on and don't take off your mask yet."

"Take the suction tube to the head of the bed, don't let her lie flat."

The sounds inside were short and fast, muffled by the glass next to the door.

Luo Jianping tossed the gloves into the yellow medical waste bin, the lid snapping shut with a soft click. She didn't look at the pen in her husband's hand, only at the newly connected monitoring screen inside the door.

"Hand the person in first, we'll talk outside."

The husband's throat moved.

"I'll just take a look."

Luo Jianping stepped half a step to the side.

"Stand outside the yellow line and take a look. Don't call her; she can't handle any shocks right now."

The door was ajar.

A small section of the woman's face peeked out from behind the bed railing; her eyes were closed, and a thin layer of white mist clung to her mask. The nurse at the bedside bent down to connect wires, her hand slightly smudged by adhesive tape, which made a soft ripping sound as she peeled it off.

The husband moved forward half a foot, but was stopped by the deputy director of the day shift.

He didn't rush again.

He gripped the pen even tighter, the pen shaft twirling in his palm, the black ink staining his fingertips.

"Can she hear me?"

Luo Jianping turned his gaze away from inside the door.

"Don't expect her to listen to you now. Tonight, we need to check for further bleeding and cerebral edema, and keep an eye on her airway. In the following days, we also need to guard against cerebral vasospasm. Let's get through tonight first, and then see how things go day by day."

The husband nodded.

They were ordering very slowly.

The door was pushed shut.

Before the door of the intensive care unit was sewn shut, Lin Ye saw that the suction tube at the head of the bed was hanging to one side, and there was still a little dampness on the transparent tube wall.

Emergency Room Early Warning System

[Current risk: Not yet resolved.]

[Subsequent stage: Intensive care.]

Process pressure: On the rise.

The blue text box only lit up briefly.

Lin Ye turned his gaze back to the photocopy in his hand.

The paper was still warm from the copier. The top column read "Received at 2:21 PM in the intervention room," and the next few lines listed the risks Luo Jianping had just mentioned. The deputy director of the day shift took the original from his hand and flattened the corner of the paper with his thumb.

"I'll keep a copy for the ICU. You take the copy for the ER."

Lin Ye nodded.

The husband was still standing at the door.

The husband stood there for a few seconds before turning around and staring at Lin Ye and Qin Hai.

"Thanks."

The two words were spoken very softly.

After he finished speaking, he placed the back of his hand against the wall and slowly loosened his knuckles.

Qin Hai didn't answer.

He rubbed the corner of his eye, his voice hoarse.

"Thank you too soon. The person is still inside."

The husband pursed his lips and said nothing more.

Near the elevator, the emergency room nurse on the day shift had already rung her phone for the third time.

As she received the oxygen cylinder, she pushed it back against the wall, her toes bracing against the cylinder rack wheels.

"Emergency room nurses' station, which side is calling from?"

After listening for a couple of sentences, she looked up at Qin Hai.

"As for Lu Yifan, the child wanted to go to the toilet, but his mother didn't dare let him move. The cardiologist told him to continue in bed and not get out of bed."

Qin Hai closed his eyes.

"Let the pediatrics and cardiology departments go and talk to them themselves, so that the family doesn't feel like the emergency room is just holding people hostage."

The nurse lowered her voice as she spoke into the phone.

"Did you hear that? Your doctor needs to go over there. The family has asked three times already; don't just have the nurses deflect the question."

Before she could even put her phone back in her pocket after hanging up, the landline at the nurses' station rang again.

The deputy director on the day shift glanced at the number.

"It was a call from the gastroenterology department."

She answered the phone, but didn't turn on speakerphone.

But the corridor was narrow, and Lin Ye still managed to hear a few words.

"Is the black stool still there?"

"Hemoglobin level of 76?"

"It only reached this number after the third bag of blood was transfused?"

The deputy director of the day shift lowered his brow.

"Don't tell the family that things are stable. Just say that there's no more large amounts of vomiting blood for now, and that they should continue with fasting, acid suppression, and follow-up examinations. Don't withdraw from the general surgery and interventional hemostasis departments yet; if the bleeding really gets out of control, they'll have to continue."

As she hung up the phone, her fingertips paused briefly on the edge of the landline.

My other phone vibrated again.

This time it's the intensive care unit.

"Did Liang Shumin call again?"

Qin Hai looked up first.

The deputy director on the day shift answered the call.

The voice on the other end of the phone was very short, as if the person was watching a monitor while replying.

"The vasopressors haven't been stopped yet, there's a little urine output, and they're still taking medication to stop the bleeding. The family asked if we could say they were out of danger, but we didn't allow it."

Qin Hai moved his back away from the wall.

"That's it for now. Whoever says they're out of danger can sign the papers themselves."

The deputy director of the day shift glanced at him.

"Stop scaring me."

Qin Hai twitched the corner of his mouth, but didn't actually smile.

"I don't have the energy to scare people right now."

Lin Ye pressed the unknotted threads to the back of the clip.

Lu Yifan was unable to get out of bed, the elderly man was still bleeding and had black stools, and Liang Shumin's blood pressure medication had not been withdrawn.

As he wrote the last line, his pen paused briefly in the crack of the paper.

Just as the pen reached the last period, someone suddenly tapped the triage desk in the general outpatient area.

The sound wasn't loud.

But the nurses' station area was silent for half a second at the same time.

"My dad has been waiting since 1 p.m., and the registration slip is practically crumpled up. You can't just ignore the guy inside who's about to die, can you?"

The speaker was a man in his thirties, holding a crumpled, white registration slip in his hand. The old man sat behind him, his cotton shoes crunching on the tiled floor, his trouser legs slightly damp, and an old IV patch on the back of his hand, as if he had just had a needle removed from somewhere else.

The triage nurse did not raise her voice.

She pulled the call number screen down and pointed it out to him.

"Your father's vital signs were just checked; I remember his blood pressure and blood oxygen levels. It's not that I didn't want to check, it's just that a critically ill patient was just wheeled out of the emergency room, and the bed hasn't been cleared yet. Please don't bang on the table yet, and hold that cup of hot water firmly in your father's hand."

The man looked down.

The old man's paper cup was creased from being squeezed, and hot water sloshed to the rim.

He took the cup, his voice still harsh.

"Then you have to give me some time."

The nurse's fingertips pressed against the triage book.

"I can't give you a precise time. What I can tell you is that if your blood pressure changes, you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, or loss of consciousness, call me immediately. Now, sit in the first chair in this row and don't go far."

The man's lips twitched slightly, and another white crease appeared on the registration slip in his hand.

He glanced in the direction of the intensive care unit, then at his father, and finally pressed the registration slip back into his palm.

Okay. Don't really forget about us.

"I can't forget it."

The nurse circled it in red pen on the triage book.

I've circled your dad's name.

Lin Ye looked at the circle of red pens.

The red thread was thick and it tore a little off the paper.

There were alarms from monitors in the emergency room, and crumpled registration slips in the regular clinic area. The old man didn't urge them any further, but just repeatedly smoothed out the registration slip on his lap.

The blue frame is not lit.

But the red circle on the triage book still kept him glued to the screen.

The deputy director of the day shift slammed a stack of papers onto the nurses' station counter.

"Linye."

Lin Ye looked up.

The stack of papers contained transfer records, copies of intervention and reception documents, family notification records, and two complaint registration forms from the general outpatient department. The corner of the top sheet was smudged with water droplets, and the ink was a bit fuzzy.

"The medical affairs department called."

Qin Hai's brow twitched.

"Liu Zhenhua?"

"Zhou Li called first. Director Liu is on his way."

The deputy director on the day shift showed Qin Hai his phone screen.

"She said the timeline for this case of a woman with headaches needs to be complete. There are also complaints waiting in the general ward, demanding an explanation from the emergency department."

Qin Hai reached out and picked up the complaint registration form at the top, read two lines, and then put it back.

"What explanation are you going to give us? Say we just saved someone from a brain hemorrhage?"

The deputy director on the day shift didn't respond to his question.

"She didn't make you write a self-criticism. She made you lay out the timeline, triage records, bed occupancy in the emergency room, and retesting in the general clinic."

Qin Hai looked down at the forest.

"Did you hear me?"

Lin Ye gripped the pen tightly.

"I heard you."

"It's not enough to just save them."

Qin Hai pushed the complaint registration form in front of him.

"Everyone can see the rescue efforts in front. But we also need to record who waited in the back, who was put back, and who had to undergo a second test. Don't let the day shift cover up your misdeeds."

Lin Ye did not refute.

His gaze fell on the date on the complaint registration form.

2:27 PM.

It was just as the second phone call came out from outside the intervention room.

The elderly man in the regular clinic had his blood pressure checked again at this time.

The deputy director on the day shift flipped over the triage book.

"I have a repeat test here. At 2:28 PM, my blood pressure is 138/82 mmHg and oxygen saturation is 98%. I am conscious. The nurse asked me to sit in the first row and take another test in 15 minutes."

Qin Hai hummed in agreement.

"Then write it in."

The deputy director of the day shift looked at Lin Ye.

"Can you write?"

Lin Ye nodded.

"meeting."

Qin Hai tapped the table with his pen.

"This isn't just some fancy stuff for the boss. Write down who called out the order, who checked the readings, what the values ​​were, who told him to sit where, and whether there was a retest after fifteen minutes. Make it all clear."

Lin Ye dragged over the blank record paper.

The paper was pulled out of the clip, its edge scraping against the metal clip with a soft sound.

He started by writing about women with headaches.

At 2:21 PM, the interventional room received the patient.

At 2:31 PM, a phone call outside the door indicated that a ruptured aneurysm was highly suspected, and interventional treatment was underway.

At 2:56 PM, it is planned to transfer the patient to the intensive care unit for continued monitoring.

He did not write that the result was good.

The second paragraph describes the general outpatient area.

At 2:27 PM, family members reported that the waiting time was too long.

At 2:28 PM, the triage nurse rechecked the vital signs. The patient was conscious, with a blood pressure of 138/82 and an oxygen saturation of 98. She was placed in the first row of the waiting area and informed that she should call for help immediately if she experienced chest pain, shortness of breath, or changes in consciousness.

Lin Ye paused for a moment while writing this.

He looked up at the general outpatient area.

The man was bending down to place the paper cup next to the chair for his father. The old man didn't make a sound; he simply spread the registration slip on his lap and repeatedly pressed it flat with his palm.

The landline was still ringing.

The registration slip was flattened, then slowly curled up one corner.

When Liu Zhenhua arrived at the nurses' station, he didn't have a folder in his hand, only a pen.

He bit a shallow mark on the pen cap.

He did not go into the office, nor did he send anyone to the meeting room.

"Say it right here."

Qin Hai glanced at him.

"Do you now enjoy interrogating me at the nurses' station?"

Liu Zhenhua placed the pen on the table.

"I like that after you save people, you also let others know why you did it."

Zhou Li followed behind, holding a tablet with a sticky note attached to the edge of the screen, the corner of which was already curled up. She first glanced at the timeline Lin Ye was writing, then looked at the complaint registration form next to the nurses' station.

"Don't miss either of these; one is the treatment line, and the other is the waiting line."

Qin Hai looked unwell.

"One for saving a life, one for a complaint; your quality control office certainly knows how to match them."

Zhou Li was not stabbed by him.

She moved the complaint registration to the side, revealing the retest record below.

"It wasn't a match. It happened on the same afternoon."

Liu Zhenhua took the paper that Lin Ye had written halfway through.

He's quick to read.

My finger paused for a moment when I saw "Initial intervention".

"That word is correct; don't write 'completely safe' as 'initial treatment'."

Qin Hai snorted coldly.

"At least one human word was spoken."

Liu Zhenhua ignored him.

Liu Zhenhua tapped the complaint registration button.

"I'm sure someone will ask later, why are the emergency room staffing up on that patient with a brain hemorrhage when the regular patients have been waiting for so long?"

He then pointed to the timeline of the woman with the headache.

"Some people might ask, what's the point of all that resuscitation if the person doesn't wake up?"

The landline at the nurses' station rang at that moment.

The day shift nurse reached out and pressed the stethoscope, but did not pick it up immediately.

Liu Zhenhua pushed the paper back in front of Lin Ye.

"So don't write fancy words. Write what you saw and did at the time. Also, who was put back and whether anyone read it again later."

Lin Ye's pen tip pressed against the paper.

The ink slowly spread a little.

He completed the line for the retest in the regular clinic area.

I watched it 15 minutes later.

After writing those words, he felt a slight soreness in his wrist.

Qin Hai took the paper and glanced at it.

"This sentence is too vague, don't write it like that."

Lin Ye paused.

Qin Hai crossed out those words.

"Write down the details. The retest was conducted at 3:00 PM sharp. What were the values? Who reviewed them? If something goes wrong, no one will take responsibility if you just say 'reviewed'."

Lin Ye re-wrote.

At 3:00 PM sharp, the triage nurse retested the blood pressure, which was 136/80 mmHg and the oxygen saturation was 98%. The elderly patient reported a dry mouth, but no chest pain, shortness of breath, or altered consciousness. He continued to wait near the triage station.

Qin Hai then pushed the paper back.

"Write it this way, and for each subsequent entry, include the time, the numerical value, and who took over the task."

Zhou Li looked at that line without saying anything, but took a picture of the complaint registration form on the tablet.

Liu Zhenhua pressed the pen cap back onto the end of the pen.

"By tonight, clarify these details. The headache case: Lu Yifan; the bleeding elderly man: Liang Shumin. Who saw it, what time it was seen, and who caught it afterwards. Don't just write fancy words."

Qin Hai was about to speak.

The landline at the nurses' station suddenly rang again.

This time, the day shift nurse took over.

"Emergency room."

She listened for a couple of sentences and then frowned.

"Inspection area? Who's there?"

Qin Hai looked up.

Almost at the same second, the deputy director's phone also vibrated.

She glanced at the caller ID.

On-duty officer.

Two bells rang above the nurses' station.

A voice came from a landline, accompanied by the chaotic sounds of people in the background of the inspection area.

A screen vibrated in the palm of the deputy director on the day shift, its light flashing on and off.

The day shift nurse covered the stethoscope and looked at Qin Hai.

"There was a crowd gathered at the inspection area, saying that someone had collapsed at the entrance and the family wouldn't let them move."

The deputy director on day shift has been connected to the general duty officer.

She listened for less than three seconds before her face darkened.

"The inpatient building's transfer corridor?"

Lin Ye looked up.

Liu Zhenhua's pen stopped in mid-air.

Qin Hai did not immediately start cursing.

He first checked the landline, then the deputy director's cell phone.

This time, the blue box at the edge of Lin Ye's field of vision did not give a name of the disease.

There is only one line of text.

Multiple risks are approaching.