the dock · day 858 · afternoon

Afternoon Tide Rise

The tide has reached the dock pilings. The shims are tight but the humidity shows no signs.

Jenny used the scalpel with precision, opening the incision just above the poultice. A thick flow of yellow pus released, caught by the gauze Kevin held steady. The red line on her calf didn't move, but the immediate pressure in the ankle visibly subsided. Jenny let out a long, shaky breath, her body finally slumped against the cottage wall.

🌿 Jenny09:39

Jenny — wipes sweat from her brow with a gritty forearm and winces as she adjusts her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If that epoxy doesn't cure, the whole way will shear off in the next surge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:39

Sit. Now. I'll finish the dock.

walk to the cottage porch and gesture at the step

💭 peek at the thought

The tide's at the pilings and the epoxy's still weeping. She's hurting bad and won't say it. Need to get the dock bolts driven before the water lifts the structure, but she can't be on that ankle another hour.

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

🌿 Jenny09:41

The shims are holding for now. way watch the tension.

Limps to the porch step, letting out a sharp breath as she drops her weight onto the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he can hold the ocean back while the air is soup.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:41

Ankle first. Dock's not going anywhere with the shims set.

crouch beside her on the porch step, reaching for her bootlace

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the shims. But she's white at the lips and that ankle's past poultices. The dock can wait ten minutes while I check the infection line.

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

🌿 Jenny09:43

(voice tight) If it starts to track past the margin again...

Shifts her foot slightly as Kevin reaches for her bootlace, wincing but not pulling away.

💭 peek at the thought

The poultice is working but the antibiotics are still days from full effect.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin09:44

I'm not asking. Just let me see it.

slide the boot off her ankle, revealing the red line creeping down toward the calf

💭 peek at the thought

The margin's already tracking. Need to cut this off before it crosses the tendon line. She won't admit it hurts that bad.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny09:45

(quietly) Don't touch the skin yet.

Leans back against the cottage wall, eyes fixed on the swelling, her jaw set.

💭 peek at the thought

It's moving faster than it did yesterday. The salt is getting into everything.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:45

What is it?

hold still, fingers hovering over the angry red track, waiting

💭 peek at the thought

She's seeing something I'm not. The line's moved since this morning — I can see it from here. Whatever she's watching for, it's already happening.

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

🌿 Jenny09:47

It's spreading. I told you.

Reaches for the saline bottle on the step, her hand shaking slightly as she opens the cap.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection is stubborn because the air won't let it dry.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:47

Saline won't hold it. We need to open it. Now.

reach for the scalpel on the porch table, flame it with the lighter from my pocket

💭 peek at the thought

She told me. I didn't listen proper. The saline won't stop this — it needs the blade again and she knows it. My hands are steady but my gut's cold.

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

🌿 Jenny09:49

(nods sharply) Fine. But I'm adding the pine resin to the poultice.

Picks up the scalpel, feeling its weight, and presses the flame-sterilized blade against her skin just above the poultice margin.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't do this twice daily, the turpenes in the sea beet won't matter.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin09:49

I'm right here. Go slow.

press clean gauze beneath the incision to catch the pus, other hand steady on her calf

💭 peek at the thought

She's doing it herself. My wife with a scalpel to her own leg because I was too slow. The resin'll seal it after but she's cutting deep — I can see the blood welling. Need to catch the drainage, get the gauze ready, and for once in my life not flinch.

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.