the keeper's cottage · day 347 · afternoon

Evening decompress

Kevin and Jenny meet at the cottage door as the sun begins to dip. The sea breeze picks up slightly.

Kevin finishes the radio call to the Coast Guard, the static still ringing in his ears as he waits for an impossible response. Jenny sits on the porch steps, watching the swelling on her calf creep toward her knee, the heat of the wet season making the throb in her skin unbearable.

🔧 Kevin05:29

Yanmar's clean. No shake at full throttle. Bronze sleeve held.

lean against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching her face

💭 peek at the thought

Engine held steady at full load for forty minutes. No vibration. Prop shaft true. The fix holds. Now the light's going and she's still on that ankle.

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

🌿 Jenny05:29

Good. Now it can actually get us off this rock.

Lean heavily against the porch rail and take a slow sip from the canteen.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so proud of his machine. I can barely stand and he's talking about bronze sleeves.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:31

Coast guard logged the medevac request. Supply boat's seven days out if they keep schedule.

step off the porch, walk to the radio shelf, pick up the handset

💭 peek at the thought

She's not putting weight on it right. The red line was mid-calf this morning. If the coast guard doesn't come through, she needs more than a canteen and hope.

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

🌿 Jenny05:31

Seven days is a long time for a fever, Kevin.

Set the canteen down with a clink and slowly rub the skin just above the bandage on my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

Seven days. Seven days of this fire in my leg and this heavy, suffocating air. I don't know if I have seven days.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:33

They'll launch a helo if the weather holds. Barometer's 1030 and steady. That's our window.

key the handset, call on 2182

💭 peek at the thought

She's minimizing. 38.1 and a spreading line means the antibiotics aren't covering it. We're out of antiseptic. Out of the blister pack. If the coast guard can't launch, I need to know now, not in seven days.

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

🌿 Jenny05:33

I hope the pilot flies better than the boat.

Close my eyes and wince as a sharp throb pulses through my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The weather is opening, but my body is closing up. The red lines are at my knee now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:35

Coast Guard, this is Sorrel Island caretaker station, callsign Kilo-Sierra-Romeo. Medical update on previous mayday. Patient female, 39, cellulitis lower right leg spreading above mid-calf, fever 38.1 Celsius holding despite two days oral antibiotics. No IV capability. No further antiseptic. Request urgent medevac timeline. Over.

hold the handset away from my ear, wait for the crackle

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to joke. Her face is grey under the tan. The throb she just rode out — that's not improving. Coast guard needs to hear the medical urgency, not just the position report.

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

🌿 Jenny05:35

I'm thirty-eight.

Shift my weight to the left leg and stare at the radio speaker, listening for the static.

💭 peek at the thought

Thirty-nine. He rounded up. I'm thirty-eight. It's a small thing, but it's a lie.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:37

Correction — patient thirty-eight. Fever 38.1, cellulitis tracking proximal, antibiotics failing. Need helo ETA. Over.

thumb the transmit button hard, eyes on the barometer

💭 peek at the thought

Thirty-eight. Tom's age next week. She corrects me mid-mayday. The radio's eating seconds.

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

🌿 Jenny05:37

Stop looking at the barometer and listen to them.

Grip the edge of the porch table, knuckles whitening.

💭 peek at the thought

He's treating me like a specimen. A set of symptoms and a temperature.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:39

—

press the handset tight to my ear, turn the squelch down, strain for anything through the hiss

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. I'm watching glass instead of listening for a voice. The static's thick on 2182.

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

🌿 Jenny05:39

I can't hear anything. It's just static.

Lean my head closer to the handset, squinting against the dimming light.

💭 peek at the thought

The noise is like needles. I can't tell if it's the radio or the fever in my head.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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