the keeper's cottage · day 717 · midday

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

Kevin carefully debrided Jenny's ankle wound with saline and applied a fresh sea beet poultice. He then checked the generator's fuel filter and ran it under load to ensure it was holding steady.

🌿 Jenny13:57

Kevin, pass me the saline and the tweezers. I need the boiled water.

Sit on the edge of the kitchen chair, prop the ankle up on the table, and slowly unwrap the damp bandage.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with my pulse; I need to clean this before the infection spreads any further up my leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:57

Here.

Hand her the saline bottle and tweezers from the medical kit, then lift the kettle off the stove and pour boiled water into the basin, letting it cool a moment before setting it beside her.

💭 peek at the thought

Watching her work on herself again. She does it like it's routine maintenance on a winch — no drama, just the job. My hands know this rhythm better than I'd like.

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

🌿 Jenny14:29

Thanks. Hold the light closer, will you?

Soak a piece of gauze in the saline and begin dabbing the angry skin at the edge of the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat from the water is making my head swim, but I need to see the red line of the infection clearly.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:29

Holding it.

Crouch beside the chair, headlamp beam steady on her ankle, close enough to see the wound edges clearly — angry red tracking up from the puncture, skin hot to the touch even from here.

💭 peek at the thought

The red line has crept past where the poultice ended yesterday. She's not flinching. I should have done this three days ago.

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

🌿 Jenny14:31

God, it stings.

Use the tweezers to carefully lift a piece of debris from the center of the wound, flinching as the sharp pain shoots up my leg.

💭 peek at the thought

It's worse than it looked yesterday. If I don't get the grit out, I won't be able to walk to the north ridge next week.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:31

Nearly done.

Keep the headlamp dead steady, other hand hovering ready with fresh gauze, watching the wound bed for any deeper pockets of infection as she works.

💭 peek at the thought

She's tougher than the engines I've nursed through cyclones. That flinch was the only sound she's made.

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.