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

After the ICU nurse finished speaking, Liang Shumin's wife's cloth bag slid back onto the chair.

The phone was still playing music on speakerphone.

The son on the other end of the phone called out "Mom" twice, lowering his voice on the second call.

"I'm coming over now. Don't go in and ask me yourself, wait for me."

Liang Shumin's wife did not answer.

Her gaze was fixed on the bedside record in the nurse's hand.

The paper wasn't thick, but the few lines of text pressed down on her newly signed name.

I just took my blood pressure medication.

Low urine output.

Continue to observe.

The access light at the ICU door flashed, and someone inside gestured to the outside from behind the glass.

The nurse placed the paper on the notice board.

"Family members may enter the interview room. Only one person may enter at a time, and the phone may be on."

When Liang Shumin's wife stood up, her knee hit the chair leg, and the chair scraped against the floor tiles with a short sound.

Zhou Min reached out and helped her up.

"Don't hang up the phone. Son, listen up."

"I'm listening," the person on the other end of the phone answered immediately. "I'll call a taxi right away."

The vascular surgery doctor on duty did not rush forward to speak.

He first handed the contact confirmation form to the intensive care nurse.

"Keep this with you for now. Try to find her first; if you can't find her, then call your son. If there are any changes in her condition, call these two numbers."

The intensive care nurse placed the form on top of the patient information folder.

When the clip closed, the plastic edge bumped.

Lin Ye stood by the door, the registration book attached to his forearm.

He did not enter the room.

Qin Hai's words still echoed in my ears.

Don't explain the illness.

Let's not talk about the prognosis.

The door to the room where they were talking was not completely closed.

The sounds coming from inside were muffled through the door, but a few words could still be made out.

"It wasn't a failed surgery."

"The post-operative period is still critical."

"My blood pressure is being managed with medication, I'm urinating less, and my kidneys are suffering as a result."

"We need to keep an eye on blood clotting, rebleeding, and infection."

At first, Liang Shumin's wife could only nod.

On the third tap, she suddenly raised her phone.

"Tell him, tell my son, I don't understand."

The son's voice on the other end of the phone was strained with anxiety.

"Doctor, my dad had abdominal pain when he came to the ER, how did his aorta suddenly rupture? Did you send him to the operating room without taking an X-ray?"

There was a moment of silence during the conversation.

Liang Shumin's wife gripped her phone, pressing the screen until it was slightly tilted.

Lin Ye's registration book felt heavy on his forearm.

The vascular surgery doctor on duty turned his head to look at the door.

Who was with the patient during those specific times in the emergency room?

Zhou Min did not answer for Lin Ye.

She simply pushed the door open a little wider.

"Lin Ye, report the record. Only report the record."

Lin Ye walked to the door but did not sit down at the conversation table.

The room where they were talking was very small.

A table, two chairs, and a medical history notification process posted on the wall. Liang Shumin's wife sat near the door, her phone lying flat on the table, the screen showing the call was still ongoing.

The intensive care physician had a note spread out beside the bed.

The vascular surgery doctor on duty stands beside the table.

Lin Ye opened the register and found the page from the night.

"Arrived at the emergency room at 10:41 PM. Blood pressure was 76.44, heart rate was 138, he was sweating profusely, and his stomach started to hurt suddenly. A pulsating mass could be felt in his abdomen."

The call wasn't interrupted.

Lin Ye continued reading.

"At 22:49, bedside ultrasound showed significant dilation of the abdominal aorta with surrounding hypoechoic areas. Hemoglobin was 78 and lactate was 4.6."

He paused for a moment, leaving the word "rupture" to the specialist.

"At 11:26 PM, go into the operating room."

The intensive care doctor caught the second half of the sentence.

"Your dad's blood pressure was too low at the time. If we had pushed him to do an aortic CT angiography, he might not have made it on the way. The emergency bedside ultrasound showed the problem, but he was already in shock. The vascular surgeon could only try to save his life first."

The person on the other end of the phone was breathing heavily for a few seconds.

"And now? Will something else happen now?"

The vascular surgery doctor on duty transferred the bedside record so that Liang Shumin's wife could also see it.

"I can't just tell you everything's fine. The wound has been treated, but he's still on vasopressors, his urine output is low, and the blood clotting hasn't been completely corrected. I'm talking to you again today so you know there's more to come, not so you can go home and wait for good news."

Liang Shumin's wife looked down at the paper.

She read the words "low urine output" aloud.

The sound was very soft.

The intensive care doctor spoke slowly.

"Low urine output is not a minor issue. When someone goes into shock, their kidneys are also affected. We'll adjust their blood pressure while monitoring their lab results and urine output. If they really can't hold on, we'll call a nephrologist, and they might need to be put on a machine to help them for a while. This will be done according to their condition; we're not forcing you to make a decision right now."

The son on the other end of the phone didn't ask again, "Why didn't you take a film?"

The sound of a car door closing came through the speaker.

"I'm on the bus, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Zhou Min pushed the contact list in front of Liang Shumin's wife.

"This form isn't just for show. You're at the hospital now, so you'll be the one to receive it. Your son is on his way, so he'll be the backup. Don't spread what the doctor just said when you get home as 'Once the surgery is over, everything will be fine.'"

Liang Shumin's wife raised her face.

His eyes were red, but he was a little more awake.

"I said, they're still fighting for survival in the ICU, so we can't say things are getting better."

The intensive care doctor nodded.

"This sentence is acceptable."

Lin Ye closed the register and took a half step back.

The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

It wasn't a call from Liang Shumin's son.

It's Qin Hai's phone.

The screen lit up by the door, displaying the words "Emergency Nurse Station".

Qin Hai answered quickly.

"explain."

The person on the other end of the phone wasn't Nurse Zhao; the voice was young, and there was the sound of a flatbed truck wheel rolling over the ground in the background.

"Director Qin, the ambulance just brought him to the entrance of the red zone. He's a 32-year-old man who said he's had a toothache for two days and was having trouble breathing at home. Now his neck is swollen, he can't open his mouth, and he can't swallow his saliva. His blood oxygen level is 92."

Qin Hai pressed his phone closer to his face.

"Don't let him lie down."

He kept his voice even lower as he walked out.

"Have him sit up and receive oxygen. We've called anesthesiology, ENT, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. Bring him over in an ambulance and remove the airway bag. Who's in the red zone right now?"

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

"Dr. Sun is here, and Nurse Zhao is here too. The family said it's just swollen gums and they want to get an IV drip of anti-inflammatory medication first."

Qin Hai had already reached the door of the intensive care unit.

"Tell the family not to mention IV fluids yet. If they can't open their mouths or swallow their saliva, their airways may be in danger."

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at the forest.

"Walk."

Lin Ye handed the registration book to Zhou Min.

Zhou Min took it without asking any questions, only offering a reminder.

"We'll keep Liang Shumin here. You go back to the emergency room."

Lin Ye nodded.

When Liang Shumin's wife heard the words "airway," she raised her head blankly for a moment.

She quickly put the phone back to her ear.

"Don't rush the driver, we'll get there safely. The doctor is still here, I haven't wandered off."

This statement, delivered during the conversation, was a bit more measured than before.

Lin Ye followed Qin Hai toward the elevator.

The corridor of the inpatient building was quiet, but the voices on the emergency phone were still ringing.

The young nurse reported another sentence.

He said his throat felt so blocked that he couldn't sit still.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Qin Hai stepped inside.

"Tell him not to lean back. Don't force him to open his mouth."

Lin Ye pressed the emergency room floor button.

The moment the door closed, a blue text box popped up at the edge of his field of vision.

[Emergency Room Warning: Risk of deep neck infection.]

Key risk: Upper airway obstruction.

Current status: In progress.

Lin Ye did not utter a single word.

The elevator is sinking.

Suddenly, Nurse Zhao's voice came through the speakerphone on Qin Hai's phone.

"Director Qin, the person is starting to lose their voice."

The elevator numbers indicated it was stopped on the emergency floor.

Before the door was fully opened, the emergency bell from the red zone rang first.