The Emergency Department fears Fridays most.
Friday nights are like a door being pushed open, allowing all the pain, drinking parties, quarrels, and accidents accumulated over the week to surge in. When Shen Nanxing changed into her nurse's uniform and entered the nurses' station, the waiting area was already packed with people, and the infusion area was nearly too crowded even for extra chairs.
“Teacher Shen, you came at just the right time.” The head nurse waved to her immediately. “There are a lot of people tonight. Keep an eye on the resuscitation room and observation.”
Shen Nanxing nodded, switched her phone to vibrate, and slipped it into her pocket.
Throughout the entire night, she barely had a chance to sit down properly. She lowered the fever of a child, established intravenous access for a chest pain patient, comforted emotionally distraught family members, checked medications, and updated the nursing records. She was like a screw being tightened again and again—unable to stop and unable to make a mistake.
A little after nine, a commotion suddenly broke out in the infusion area.
“My mother has been waiting for half an hour. Why hasn't she started her infusion yet?” A young man blocked the front of the nurses' station, his voice loud. “Are you nurses deliberately taking your time?”
Xiao Zhou's eyes reddened as he spoke to her. “There are still emergency resuscitations ahead of you. The medication is already being prepared.”
“What do those resuscitations have to do with us? We paid for registration too!”
Shen Nanxing walked over and stood in front of Xiao Zhou. “Sir, please lower your voice. The medication needs to be checked, and infusions have to follow an order. If the elderly patient's condition changes, we will handle it as a priority.”
The man looked her up and down and sneered. “All you know how to do is repeat those canned lines.”
Shen Nanxing was not provoked. She knew that any emotional retort at that moment would become material for a complaint. She only looked at him and said clearly, “I understand that you are anxious, but blocking this area will affect the treatment of the other patients. Please return to your seat and wait. We will arrange it as soon as possible.”
The man was about to erupt again when an elderly patient beside him began coughing violently. Shen Nanxing immediately turned around to check and discovered that the patient's complexion was abnormal and their blood oxygen level was falling. She called for a doctor and pushed over the resuscitation cart, while Xiao Zhou quickly followed. The family members who had been arguing moments ago fell silent, leaving only footsteps and the sounds of medical equipment in the infusion area.
It was not until eleven that Shen Nanxing finally had a sip of water.
Xiao Zhou stood beside her and said softly, “Teacher Shen, how can you stay so calm all the time? I nearly burst into tears just now.”
Shen Nanxing twisted the lid back onto her cup. “It isn't calmness. Crying wouldn't help either.”
Xiao Zhou froze for a moment.
Seeing how young she was, Shen Nanxing softened a little and added, “But you didn't do anything wrong just now. In the future, when you encounter something like this, protect yourself first, then explain the procedures.”
“Mm.”
The nurses' station was quiet for a few minutes. The densely packed medical instructions continued flashing on the computer screen, the printer spat out another examination order, and then the phone rang again. Shen Nanxing answered it and heard a doctor on the other end say hurriedly, “observation bed seven is ready to be transferred to the hospital. The family needs to sign. Please hurry them along.”
She acknowledged him, picked up her pen, and walked outside.
At half past one in the morning, Gu Cheng'an passed through the Emergency Department corridor. He was wearing a white coat, with a young doctor and an intern beside him, and was quietly explaining the patient's condition. Shen Nanxing walked past from the other direction carrying a treatment tray, and the two briefly met each other's gaze.
Gu Cheng'an nodded at her once in greeting.
Shen Nanxing nodded as well.
They did not stop to speak.
Xiao Zhou noticed. After Gu Cheng'an had walked away, she could not help smiling. “Teacher Shen, Doctor Gu was looking at you just now. You are both married and work at the hospital—it's wonderful. You understand each other.”
Shen Nanxing lowered her head to check the medication labels, a faint smile on her lips. “Yes, we understand each other.”
But she knew in her heart that understanding did not always mean drawing closer.
At three in the morning, the Emergency Department lobby was still brightly lit. Shen Nanxing took an elderly patient for an examination, and on her way back, she saw a cleaner mopping the floor, its surface reflecting a cold sheen. She suddenly remembered what her mother-in-law had said that morning about the colored paper, remembered Dabao's test papers, and remembered Xiaobao's little face scrunching up whenever he coughed.
Her life was like this corridor, with no end in sight.
She paused for a second, then quickly walked back toward the nurses' station.
Because the call bell had already sounded again.