the keeper's cottage · day 805 · afternoon

Evening radio call for medevac

The light is thinning over the water. Kevin sits at the shortwave with the medevac forms, hand on the key. Jenny is propped on the bench, ankle elevated, the ditch bag at her side. The radio hums on standby. Kevin calls the coast station on 2182 kHz.

The humidity is a physical weight, making the 30°C air feel like breathing wet wool over the cottage. The tide is receding, exposing the slick, salt-crusted ribs of the seaward pilings. Jenny sits on the bench, the redness on her ankle having clearly crossed the knee line, throbbing in the stagnant heat.

🔧 Kevin07:31

Coast Guard, Coast Guard, this is Sorrel Island caretaker station, call sign Victor-Kilo-4-Alpha, over.

key the mic on 2182 kHz, wait for response

💭 peek at the thought

This is the call I've been dreading. Nine days to the supply boat, but the red line's past her groin now. If I don't raise someone tonight, we're out of options.

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

🌿 Jenny07:31

Tell them the priority is medical, Kevin. Not supplies.

Trace the edge of the redness on my calf with a finger, watching the skin pulse.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection is moving faster than the tide today. If the boat doesn't come in nine days, I'll be part of the island.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin07:32

Coast Guard, this is Victor-Kilo-4-Alpha. Priority medical. Forty-one-year-old female, cellulitis tracking above knee to groin, fever, suspected sepsis. Antibiotics exhausted. Request medevac. Position 47-12 North, 008-03 West. Over.

hold the key, wait for acknowledgement

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Keep it clean. Medical first, everything else follows.

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

🌿 Jenny07:33

Make sure they know the weather is turning.

Close my eyes and try to breathe through the throb in my leg.

💭 peek at the thought

Sepsis. Such a heavy word for a woman who just wanted to draw some weeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin07:34

Victor-Kilo-4-Alpha. Weather deteriorating. Barometer 1004 and falling fast. Southwest wind rising, visibility closing. Sea state four and building. Over.

release the key, listen for reply

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's still falling. They need to know what they're flying into.

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

🌿 Jenny07:35

They're going to struggle with that wind.

Reach for the tin of seeds on my lap, feeling the cold metal of the lid.

💭 peek at the thought

If they can't get here before the storm, the seeds will just rot in the tin anyway.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin07:36

Kevin — keep one hand on the key, the other on the ditch bag strap, eyes on Jenny's face

💭 peek at the thought

She's thinking about the garden. The seeds. Not herself. Always the work.

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

🌿 Jenny07:37

Jenny — tighten my grip on the seed tin, knuckles turning white.

💭 peek at the thought

The silence is worse than the radio static.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin07:38

Victor-Kilo-4-Alpha standing by. Over.

key the mic again, sharp and short

💭 peek at the thought

The silence from the radio stretches. They're either relaying or the conditions are worse than I thought out there. Either way, the clock's running.

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

🌿 Jenny07:39

They have to be listening.

Look out at the north ridge, watching the grey sky swallow the horizon.

💭 peek at the thought

If they don't answer now, I'm talking to the ghosts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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