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

There was a two-second pause in the static from the receiver.

In the third second, Qin Hai had already turned around.

Who's in the inspection area?

Before Zhou Min could even put her phone down from her ear, her other hand was already on the nurses' station counter.

"Xiao Chen is here, and so is the triage nurse."

Qin Hai looked at Lin Ye.

"Shen Qingyuan, go back to the monitoring station with the thoracic surgeon and write down those items clearly. I'll go to the examination area."

The wind lifted a corner of the note in Lin Ye's hand.

The stretcher in the transfer channel was still being pushed towards the emergency room. Shen Qingyuan's blood oxygen level had just climbed from 88 to 91. The spare oxygen cylinder was being moved close to the bedside, and the water-seal bottle was being protected by the nurses' hands, the markings on the bottle swaying back and forth.

On the other side, the landline at the nurses' station remained connected.

There was still no sound coming from the receiver.

On the monitor, Ninety-One was still hovering at the edge of the screen.

"I followed them to the door first and handed the chest tube over to the thoracic surgery department. The elderly patient in the examination area had chest tightness and needed an electrocardiogram first."

Qin Hai didn't stop walking.

"Do I need you to teach me?"

The words were harsh.

But his hand was already pointing to the nurses' station.

"Push the ECG machine over there. Don't let the elderly person stand up again. If any family members try to stop them, separate them first."

Liu Zhenhua handed the folder to Zhou Li and followed her toward the inspection area.

"I'll go too."

Zhou Li held the tablet and stood still without moving immediately.

On the other side of the transfer channel, Shen Qingyuan's stretcher had not yet been fully placed in the monitoring position.

In the direction of the inspection area, security guards are already setting up barriers.

"Both sides need to be recorded."

Zhou Min hung up the phone and immediately followed up with that sentence.

"You stay at the nurses' station. Fill in whichever slot becomes available."

Zhou Li propped the tablet up on the nurses' station table, and the blank record page lit up.

The on-call thoracic surgeon pushed Shen Qingyuan toward the emergency monitoring station, glancing down at the water-sealed bottle as they walked.

"Did the bedside tablets chirp?"

"It called."

Zhou Min held her phone between her shoulder and her other hand, flipping through the bed ward signs in the emergency room.

"The mobile X-ray team is downstairs in the pediatric ward; it takes five minutes to get here."

The on-call thoracic surgeon tucked the stethoscope into his palm.

"His blood oxygen level will drop again within five minutes, so don't wait for the scan."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hai turned around and left only one sentence.

"Your thoracic surgery department should keep an eye on things. The emergency department can't identify another Qin Hai right now."

The thoracic surgeon didn't argue back.

He put the stethoscope into his ear and bent down to listen to Shen Qingyuan's left chest.

Lin Ye followed to the monitoring station and wrote down the time.

At 3:26 PM, the patient was transferred back to the transport channel. The water-seal bottle had been tilted, the chest tube was compressed by the bed rails, and the oxygen cylinder was nearly empty. After connecting to backup oxygen, the blood oxygen level rose from 88 to 91, and the heart rate reached 139.

Before his pen had even left the paper, he heard a voice coming from the direction of the inspection area.

It wasn't a shout.

It was the sound of footsteps as security guards pushed the crowd away. Shoes slid back against the paving stones, plastic barriers were stretched taut, and buckles slammed against metal posts with a loud thud.

Lin Ye handed the folder to the thoracic surgeon.

"I'll leave this one with you for now. The bedside X-ray arrived, but it's back at the nurses' station."

The thoracic surgeon glanced at the paper.

"If he had really gone off the tubes just now, he wouldn't have only dropped to 88."

Lin Ye looked at the water bottle.

"So I only write about being under pressure and tilting, not about being detached from the tube."

The thoracic surgeon looked up at him.

This time, he didn't frown.

"OK."

Lin Ye turned and ran towards the inspection area.

The area around the entrance to the inspection zone has been cleared.

The elderly woman lay flat on a bench near the entrance to the examination area, a coat placed behind her back. The man who had just taken the registration slip was kneeling on the ground, trying to put his hand on the elderly woman's shoulder, but the triage nurse held her wrist down.

"Don't help him up."

The triage nurses spoke in hushed tones.

"He said he felt tightness in his chest, so I let him lie down. What if you help him up and he falls again?"

The man's lips were pale.

He just said he was fine.

"That was just now."

Qin Hai squatted down beside the old man and put his hand on the old man's wrist.

Where does the tightness in your chest feel?

The old man raised his hand and pointed to the center of his chest.

His fingers weren't raised high enough to touch the collar of his sweater when they fell. The cuffs of the gray sweater were pilling, and the old IV patch on the back of his hand wasn't completely clean, its edges curled up.

"block."

The old man took a breath.

"Like being pressed down."

Qin Hai looked at the triage nurse.

"Your blood sugar was 5.8 just now?"

"Yes. Blood pressure 152-156, blood oxygen 96. I just mentioned chest tightness when the call dropped. Someone knocked my phone away."

She took her phone out of her pocket; the screen was still on the interrupted call.

"I didn't dare leave him."

Qin Hai didn't curse.

"Well done."

The electrocardiograph machine was pushed over, and the wheels got stuck. The day shift nurse kicked aside the IV pack on the floor, bent down to plug it in, and the power plug made a soft click as it went into the hole.

Lin Ye squatted down on the other side.

"What's the old man's name?"

The man frantically flipped through the registration slip.

"Xie Guangyi. Sixty-eight years old."

What kind of examination did you just have?

"Abdominal ultrasound. He said his stomach was bloated, so the community sent him to come in for an examination."

Qin Hai didn't rush to reply, but heard the old man take another breath.

When did the chest tightness start?

The man looked at the old man.

The old man's eyes were closed, but his lips moved slightly.

"It was a bit while I was queuing."

The man turned his head abruptly.

"You didn't say that!"

Qin Hai lowered his voice by half a syllable.

"Don't disturb him."

The man's throat tightened, and he crumpled the registration slip in his hand into a ball, the corner of the paper burrowing into his palm.

Lin Ye's gaze fell on the old man's collar.

"Are you sweating?"

The triage nurse had already lifted the elderly man's coat.

The old man's shirt had a dark sweat stain clinging to his chest. It wasn't a water stain from the hot water spill earlier; it was pressed against his skin and spread down to below his collar.

"I feel pressure on my chest, I'm sweating, and my chest went limp just now. Please follow the high-risk chest pain instructions."

The electrocardiogram (ECG) paper slowly emerged from the machine.

The paper was still a little warm.

Qin Hai didn't wait for it to come out completely; he first pressed down on the edge of the paper and looked at the first set of leads.

His brows furrowed slightly.

The day shift nurse tore off the back of the paper and handed it to him.

Lin Ye saw several leads on the lower wall.

It's not the most exaggerated version in textbooks.

However, it's inappropriate to group it with "stomach bloating and other ultrasound findings".

Qin Hai looked up.

Tang Zhendong.

Zhou Min was already on the phone.

"Director Tang of Cardiology, Emergency Examination Area, 68-year-old male, presenting with squeezing chest pain, sweating, and a brief moment of weakness; ECG shows ST segment abnormality in inferior leads."

There was no cursing on the other end of the phone.

Unlike before, he didn't ask Lin Ye if he was causing trouble again.

All that could be heard was the sound of a chair being pushed away.

"Send me the images. Don't get him up yet. Blood pressure, blood oxygen, a second ECG, troponin, coagulation, liver and kidney function, electrolytes, and get an IV. Ask if he has black stools, vomiting blood, recent surgery, brain hemorrhage, or is on anticoagulants."

Zhou Min turned on speakerphone.

Several messages popped up in the group chat for the directors almost simultaneously.

Tang Zhendong: Photo.

Thoracic Surgery On-Duty Doctor: Shen Qingyuan, bedside X-ray awaiting. Chest tube connection has been re-secured. Blood oxygen saturation is 92, but he is still short of breath.

Neurosurgeon Luo Jianping: The female patient in the ICU with headache has not bled again. Do not transfer the interventional radiology nurse.

Intensive Care Unit: There are currently no available beds, but we can admit patients under general intensive care.

Duty Officer: Clear the transfer channel first.

The screen is lit.

The messages on the screen kept scrolling up one after another.

The profile pictures that used to be quick to hurl insults have all stopped this time.

The blue text box at the edge of Lin Ye's field of vision lit up briefly.

Multiple risks persist.

[Publication basis: Abnormal electrocardiogram / Chest tightness and sweating / Transient collapse.]

[Resource conflicts: monitoring position/mobile bedside X-ray/specialist on-site.]

The blue border faded quickly.

Qin Hai pressed the electrocardiogram paper onto the registration table in the examination area.

"Move to the emergency zone."

The man looked up abruptly.

"It's not a stomach problem?"

Qin Hai looked at him.

"Focus on the heart problem first. We can deal with the stomach issue later, but the heart problem can't wait."

The man's lips trembled slightly.

"Will I die?"

Tang Zhendong's voice came through the speakerphone.

"meeting."

The entrance to the inspection area suddenly became quiet.

Tang Zhendong did not stop.

"But if you let him lie down now, and let the doctors and nurses connect him to the ECG, blood test, and monitor, you're racing against time. Don't support him, don't carry him on your back, and don't run with him in your arms."

The man knelt on the ground, slowly releasing his grip.

The registration slip fell next to the old man's coat.

The day shift nurses have already put the oxygen masks on.

"The emergency stretcher has arrived."

The stretcher was wheeled out of the emergency area, the edges of the sheets still bearing the creases from the previous transfer. Two nurses gently moved the elderly man onto the stretcher, their movements slower than usual, their shoulders exerting force almost simultaneously. The stretcher wheels bumped lightly against the base of the isolation strap.

Lin Ye followed the stretcher toward the rescue area.

When they reached the nurses' station, Zhou Li handed over the tablet.

"Timeline".

A blank record has been opened on the screen.

At 3:24 PM, an elderly person in the inspection area complained of dizziness.

At 3:26 PM, blood sugar was 5.8, blood pressure was 152/86, and blood oxygen was 96.

At 3:28 PM, he complained of chest tightness, and the call was disconnected.

At 3:30 PM sharp, the emergency room staff arrived, and the patient was placed in a supine position for an electrocardiogram.

Lin Ye scrolled the screen down a bit.

One less.

In the blank record, the cursor is still on the next line.

Which one?

Lin Ye looked back at the inspection area.

The man was following behind the flatbed cart, taking two steps and then stopping, his eyes fixed on the old man's face.

"The chest tightness didn't start at 3:28 PM. He just said he felt a little tightness while queuing, but he didn't mention it."

Zhou Li immediately added.

"The onset time is unknown, but the patient reported experiencing chest tightness while queuing."

Qin Hai passed by and heard this, but didn't look at Lin Ye.

"Write it even more forcefully."

Lin Ye took the tablet.

"The patient reported experiencing chest tightness while waiting in line for examination, but did not proactively inform his family or the triage desk. At 3:28 PM, his symptoms worsened, and the triage nurse called the emergency room."

Zhou Li highlighted this line separately.

"This sentence can stop half of the arguments."

Qin Hai pulled up the railings of the emergency bed.

"It's not about avoiding disputes, it's about preventing missed diagnoses."

Tang Zhendong's phone call was still ongoing.

"Has the second electrocardiogram come back yet?"

The day shift nurses have already applied the electrode pads.

"immediately."

Xie Guangyi lay on the resuscitation bed, his oxygen mask fogged up. His eyes were half-open, and his voice was muffled behind the mask.

"Have I held you back?"

Qin Hai paused as he adjusted the monitoring leads.

"Don't worry about us now. Just tell me if it hurts, if you feel stuffy, or if you're having trouble breathing."

The old man slowly nodded.

"stuffy."

Lin Ye looked at the monitor.

Heart rate 118.

Blood pressure 146, diastolic pressure 84.

Blood oxygen 97%.

The numbers are still acceptable for now.

But when the ECG paper was presented for the second time, Tang Zhendong didn't say anything at first.

Only the sound of breathing could be heard through the speakerphone.

Two seconds later, his voice lowered.

"I'm going downstairs. The catheterization lab should prepare."

"Initiate the emergency intervention process first; I'll come down and get the medication and consent forms."

Next to the nurses' station, Liu Zhenhua placed the folder in his hand on the table.

"Can the catheterization lab do it now?"

Zhou Min flipped the transfer slip from the catheterization lab to the top.

"There was a catheterization lab procedure scheduled for completion just now, and Director Tang is coordinating it."

"The photos of Shen Qingyuan's bedside haven't been taken yet."

Zhou Li offered a reminder.

"The person who moved the bedside X-ray has arrived at the entrance of the emergency building, but the passageway to the resuscitation area is now blocked by two stretchers."

Qin Hai handed the second electrocardiogram chart to Lin Ye.

"Go to the door."

Lin Ye caught it.

"What are you doing?"

"Clear the road."

Qin Hai looked at him.

"Shen Qingyuan's bedside X-ray is coming in, and Xie Guangyi might be heading towards the catheterization lab. Both sides are blocking the passageway. Didn't you just ask who would catch him? Now go make way and catch him."

Lin Ye didn't ask any further questions.

He ran to the entrance of the emergency room with the electrocardiogram chart in his hand.

The passageway is blocked.

Shen Qingyuan's stretcher was parked outside the monitoring position, and the thoracic surgeon was waiting for the bedside X-ray; a mobile X-ray machine was pushed over from the other end of the corridor, with an old serial number on the side of the machine and wires wrapped around the handle; Xie Guangyi's resuscitation bed was still being pushed in, and the family members were stopped by security guards outside the yellow line.

Everything is in the same hallway.

Nobody did it on purpose to block anyone.

But for every extra half minute someone gets stuck, someone has to breathe for an extra half minute.

Lin Ye tucked the electrocardiogram chart under his arm and first reached out to push aside the empty wheelchair against the wall.

Qin Hai asked him to clear the passage.

He only did one thing: split the road.

"Move Shen Qingyuan's bed half a meter to the left, and don't raise the water seal bottle. The X-ray machine will enter from the right first, and then immediately exit after taking the scan. Xie Guangyi's bed will be placed in front of the nurses' station, not at the very back. We'll decide on the catheterization lab after Director Tang arrives and takes a look."

The thoracic surgeon looked up.

"I haven't taken any pictures yet."

"So let the machine in first."

Lin Ye looked at him.

"After the scan, you need the X-ray. The cardiology department needs access. Both sides are waiting for your machine to make way."

The thoracic surgeon gritted his teeth and stopped arguing.

"The bed is to the left."

The nurse pushed the bed, and the water seal bottle wobbled slightly.

Lin Ye immediately raised his hand.

"Keep the bottle steady."

The accompanying nurse protected the bottle first this time.

"Stay calm."

A portable film camera was pushed in through the gap.

The machine wheels slid along the wall, the power cord brushing against Lin Ye's trouser leg. Lin Ye pulled the electrocardiogram paper from under his arm; the edges were slightly softened by sweat.

Tang Zhendong walked quickly from the elevator entrance.

He didn't curse.

He didn't even ask who called him.

He took the electrocardiogram chart first and looked at it as he walked.

When he reached Xie Guangyi's bedside, he only said one sentence.

"Where are the family members?"

The man immediately took half a step forward.

The security guard didn't let him cross the yellow line, but simply placed him at the foot of the bed.

Tang Zhendong pressed the electrocardiogram paper onto the footboard of the bed.

"Your father's condition doesn't seem like a stomach ailment. We highly suspect an acute coronary problem and need to prepare for emergency intervention. We need to draw blood, clarify any contraindications for medications, and he may need to sign an informed consent form soon."

The man's mouth opened slightly.

"I just had an ultrasound scan."

Tang Zhendong flipped to the second sheet of the electrocardiogram.

"So we're not queuing anymore."

The man looked at the paper, but didn't understand it.

He took a step toward the bed rail, but the nurse gently pushed him back behind the yellow line.

"I'll sign."

"Listen to the whole thing before you sign."

Tang Zhendong handed the paper to Qin Hai.

"Do you have a history of gastrointestinal bleeding? Have you recently experienced black stools or vomiting blood? Have you had a brain hemorrhage? Have you taken any anticoagulants or painkillers?"

Qin Hai looked at Lin Ye.

"ask."

Lin Ye squatted down at the foot of the bed.

"Uncle, have you had black stools recently? Vomited blood? Have you been hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage? Are you taking medications like aspirin, warfarin, or rivaroxaban? Are you taking painkillers long-term?"

Xie Guangyi opened his eyes a little.

"aspirin."

The man immediately responded.

"The community doctor prescribed these medications, saying my blood vessels are not healthy. I don't have painkillers, I don't have black stools, and I don't vomit blood."

Lin Ye wrote each item down in his record.

Tang Zhendong listened without looking up.

"Let's proceed according to the procedure. I've already asked someone to clear the catheterization lab."

Just then, the thoracic surgery team finished taking the mobile bedside X-ray.

Just as the machine was being moved out, the on-call thoracic surgeon's phone rang.

He answered the phone on the second ring.

"The video is out?"

After listening, his gaze fell on Shen Qingyuan.

"The left lung is not fully recovered, the pneumothorax is still present, and the location of the tubes needs to be verified."

Qin Hai closed his eyes.

"Okay. One needs to be placed in the catheterization lab, and the chest tube isn't stable yet."

Zhou Min stood in front of the nurses' station, holding two transfer slips in her hands at the same time.

One of the photos shows Xie Guangyi preparing for emergency intervention.

One of them is Shen Qingyuan's thoracic surgery monitoring and reassessment.

She looked at Qin Hai.

"Only one bed can pass through the passage at a time."

The catheterization lab phone vibrated in her hand.

The chief resident of thoracic surgery also rushed over from the other end of the corridor.

No one in the director's group chat was joking.

The screen jumps up one message after another.

Catheterization lab: Can be connected in five minutes.

Thoracic Surgery: Shen Qingyuan needs to have his chest tube checked and will not return to the ward for the time being.

Duty officer: The transfer channel shall remain one-way.

Tang Zhendong: Let's go to the cardiology department first, but the monitoring can't be interrupted.

Chief Resident Physician of Thoracic Surgery: The chest cavity can no longer be blocked.

Qin Hai combined the two transfer slips together.

The voices of the group suddenly lowered.

The only sounds in the corridor were the beeping of the monitor, the faint whirring of the oxygen flow meter, and the muffled thud of the wheels of the portable X-ray machine rolling over the grout lines of the floor tiles as it was being withdrawn.

Lin Ye pushed the newly completed time sheet onto the nurses' station table.

Two lines are pressed onto the paper.

Xie Guangyi: Chest tightness and sweating, transient collapse, abnormal ECG dynamics, connected to the catheterization lab five minutes later.

Shen Qingyuan: Shortness of breath after chest tube transport, blood oxygen levels rise but left lung does not fully re-expand, thoracic surgery requires bedside review.

Qin Hai placed the time sheet between the two shipping documents.

"Send it to the heart first."

The chief resident of thoracic surgery was promoted.

Qin Hai didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Keep Shen Qingyuan in the emergency monitoring position, and have the thoracic surgeons handle him at his bedside. Don't let him go back to the corridor. Xie Guangyi's catheterization lab window only has five minutes; if you miss it, none of you can make up for it."

Tang Zhendong had already handed the defibrillation patch to the nurse.

"Put it on, then take the guardian with you."

The man stood outside the yellow line, his face ashen white.

"Can I go with it?"

Tang Zhendong had already followed the bedside and walked out.

"Follow me to the door and sign. Don't block the way."

The nurse fastened the bed rails around Xie Guangyi's bed.

Click.

The sound was very soft.

But everyone in the corridor moved.

As the stretcher was pushed toward the catheterization lab, the water seal bottle over Shen Qingyuan's side was still hanging low. The chief resident of thoracic surgery was squatting by the bed, his glove half-pulled off.

The two beds no longer collided on the same line.

Lin Ye stood in front of the nurses' station, watching the passageway gradually clear.

Zhou Li took a picture of the time stamp.

The flash was not turned on.

The screen lit up briefly, then went dark again.

In the group chat for directors, the last message ended with four words sent by Tang Zhendong.

The person has been picked up.

The message bar did not pop up again.