the keeper's cottage · day 580 · afternoon

Pre-storm tension

The wind picks up, carrying the first heavy scent of rain as the tide begins to turn.

Kevin checked Jenny's ankle inside the cottage as the warm rain beat against the roof. The infection is spreading up her calf with red streaks, and her fever has climbed. He prepared a dose of antibiotics and a mint poultice while the tide rose rapidly outside the dock.

🔧 Kevin00:37

Tide's turning. Wind's backing west. We'll lose the crate if we don't move it now.

Walk down to the dock with the crowbar, check the crate's position against the rising water.

💭 peek at the thought

Weather's turning faster than the barometer said. Need to secure the crate before the swell hits the dock hard.

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

🌿 Jenny00:37

The crate can wait, Kevin. I can't walk.

Grip the edge of the cot and watch the rain start through the window.

💭 peek at the thought

The red streaks are moving up my leg, and he's worried about a wooden box while I'm falling apart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:38

Ankle that bad?

Set the crowbar down on the porch, step back inside, crouch beside the cot to look at her ankle without touching it yet.

💭 peek at the thought

Her ankle's worse than she let on. The crate's heavy but the sea won't wait. Can't leave her alone if she can't move.

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

🌿 Jenny00:39

It's the infection. It's moved past the ankle.

Pull the leg away slightly and wince at the movement.

💭 peek at the thought

It feels like it's throbbing in time, and the fever is making the room tilt.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:41

Show me.

Roll up her trouser leg carefully, keeping movements slow, checking for red streaks, heat, swelling above the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

Infection tracking up the leg. That's sepsis territory. No hospital, no evac, just what's in the kit and what I know. Need to see how far it's spread.

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

🌿 Jenny00:41

It's hot. It's spreading.

Let the fabric fall away, exposing the angry, red skin of the calf.

💭 peek at the thought

The lines are climbing higher like vines on a trellis. I'm too weak to lie.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:43

Right. We're doing this now.

Get the medical kit, antibiotics, clean gauze, antiseptic cream, scalpel, bowl, clean water, clean cloth. Set up on the table beside the cot. Check her temperature with the thermometer.

💭 peek at the thought

Red streaks tracking up the calf. Lymphangitis. She needs IV antibiotics and we have oral doxycycline and metronidazole — maybe three days' worth between them. Fever, sepsis risk. No boat for four days minimum. Have to treat aggressively here.

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

🌿 Jenny00:43

It's hot. I know it.

Close my eyes and wait for the beep, sweat beading on my forehead.

💭 peek at the thought

The reading is going to be as high as the tide. My head is spinning.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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