the keeper's cottage · day 305 · evening

Evening Medical Check

Kevin and Jenny are in the kitchen. Kevin is preparing a simple meal while Jenny sits with her ankle propped up on a chair.

Kevin and Jenny ate a meal of eggs and corned beef in the cottage while the heat pressed down. Kevin obsessed over the engine's vibration issues while Jenny focused on the swelling in her ankle. The dock rot remains untreated as the tide continues to rise.

🌿 Jenny11:47

The dock pilings are rotting, Kevin. Three feet up from the waterline. It's not just surface wear; it's structural.

Gently shift the ankle on the chair, wincing as the skin pulls.

💭 peek at the thought

He's humming. How can he hum when the dock is practically a sponge and my leg feels like it's being tightened by a vice? I can't even stand up without seeing stars.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin11:47

Landward side holding?

Set the skillet on the stove, drop in a knob of corned beef fat, and let it melt while I wait for her answer.

💭 peek at the thought

Three feet up means the rot's eaten past the tidal zone. That's not splash — that's wicking. The sister knees I put in last month won't hold if the cores are gone. Need to check the landward pilings too, see if it's tracking inland.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny11:48

Barely. The landward side is better, but the seaward ones are spongy. If we get a real surge before the supply boat, the whole thing could shift.

Reach for the antibiotic blister pack on the windowsill and slide one pill out.

💭 peek at the thought

"Holding" is a generous word for it. He always wants a binary answer—yes or no—instead of actually looking at the decay.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin11:48

Swallow it.

Crack two eggs into the hot fat, whites spreading thin. Slide a plate toward her end of the table.

💭 peek at the thought

She's taking the antibiotic without water. Ankle's hot enough to feel from here. Red streaks didn't fade. She's not saying how bad it is.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny11:50

I'll swallow it when I have water.

Take the pill and hold it in my palm, staring at the eggs.

💭 peek at the thought

He's not even looking at me, just the eggs. He knows the infection is climbing, but he can't bear to see the redness.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin11:50

Kevin — pour water from the tank tap into a chipped enamel mug, set it down beside her hand.

💭 peek at the thought

Tank's at 363. Can spare a mug. She's counting.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny11:52

Thanks.

way the pill and swallow it with a dry gulp, then rub the swollen ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

At least he brought the water. The heat in this kitchen is thick enough to breathe like wet wool.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:52

Eat.

Slide the second plate over, fork on the side. Take my own seat opposite. Cut into the yolk, let it run.

💭 peek at the thought

Two doses left. If the streaks reach the knee by morning, we're past pills. Radio's working. Coastguard heard that Mayday last night — they're in range. But a medevac means leaving the island, the engine, the garden, the contract. She'd refuse. I'd have to make the call while she's unconscious.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny11:54

I can't believe you're still obsessing over that vibration. The dock is the real problem.

Pick up the fork and push a small piece of egg around the plate.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm not even hungry, but if I don't eat, I'll just be tired and hungry and hurt. The yolk looks too rich for this heat.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin11:54

Vibration's the shaft sleeve. Bench work's done. Need to pull the prop tomorrow, press it true. Dock needs greenheart sisters, epoxy, through-bolts. Don't have greenheart. Don't have epoxy. Have three sound cores from the last repair and oak wedges that split.

Eat a mouthful of egg white. Watch her push food around.

💭 peek at the thought

Vibration's the prop shaft. Dock's the pilings. Both can kill us — one slow, one fast. Supply boat in nine days. If the dock goes, no boat lands. If the engine fails, no dinghy to meet it. She thinks I'm choosing the engine. I'm choosing the thing I can fix with my hands right now.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.