the keeper's cottage · day 908 · afternoon

The storm intensifies

The light fades early as the storm clouds thicken, and the radio check at six is approaching fast.

The heat is heavy and still, the 32°C dry season air pressing down. Inside the cottage, the smell of vinegar and medicinal herbs lingers in the air. Jenny's ankle is elevated on the table, swollen and throbbing despite the poultice application. The tide is rising outside, lapping at the pilings as a reminder of the coming storm.

🌿 Jenny08:02

Jenny — limp toward the kitchen and reach for the medical kit.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't stand this pulsing in my ankle. If I don't get this dressing changed now, the damp will just feed the infection.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:02

Leave the kit. I'll bring it.

Walk to the medical kit on the high shelf, take it down, and carry it to the kitchen table where she's sitting.

💭 peek at the thought

She's pushing through the pain again. The ankle's not right — hasn't been since the debridement. She shouldn't be moving on it this much, but she won't listen to me saying it.

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

🌿 Jenny08:05

Give me the saline and the antiseptic. Please.

way my ankle up onto the table and start unwrap the damp bandage.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being so helpful but he doesn't see the rot starting under the skin. I just need to clean it properly.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:05

Saline's low. Half a bottle left. Antiseptic's gone — used the last on the debridement.

Set the kit on the table, pull out the saline bottle and the empty antiseptic bottle, put them in front of her.

💭 peek at the thought

The swelling's worse than this morning. Skin shiny tight. She's going to need the metronidazole course finished and I'm down to four doses. Radio check in twenty minutes — trust needs to know the medevac went clean and she's stable.

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

🌿 Jenny08:06

How is it gone? I didn't use it all.

Stare at the empty bottle, then slowly peel back the last layer of gauze to inspect the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

Gone? How could it be gone? I specifically remember the count. Now I'm stuck with half a bottle of salt water and a throbbing leg.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:06

You were burning. Two nights ago. I flushed it three times while you were out of it.

Pull the stool closer, sit down, and tilt the lantern so the light falls on her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

She doesn't remember. Fever took her hard two nights back — she was talking to her mother, then the supply boat captain, then me but not me. I used the antiseptic flushing the wound when she couldn't hold the bottle steady. She was burning 39.4.

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

🌿 Jenny08:09

I didn't ask you to waste it.

Gently press the edge of the swollen skin to check for fluid, wincing as the pain spikes.

💭 peek at the thought

I was burning. I don't remember the fever being that high. He's treating me like a patient instead of a partner.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:09

Wasn't waste. You couldn't hold the bottle.

Reach for the clean gauze roll and the sea beet poultice wrapped in damp cloth on the counter.

💭 peek at the thought

Not waste. She'd have done the same. The metronidazole's holding the line but the heat in the joint says bone-deep. Four doses left. Six weeks she said in Anchorage. I've got four days of pills and a radio schedule.

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.