the garden · day 346 · morning

Morning Heat and Low Tide

The tide continues to pull away, revealing more of the reef shelf. The heat index is intensifying, making the shade cloth over the tomatoes essential.

Kevin ran the Yanmar at the dock under load, confirming the vibration fix held at 1800 RPM. Jenny's ankle infection worsened despite cold packs and elevation, with red streaks spreading and fever rising.

🔧 Kevin04:17

Kevin — walk back to the cottage to check Jenny's ankle and temperature

💭 peek at the thought

Heat's climbing faster than the tide's dropping. Need to get the Yanmar run done before the supply boat window — if she shows. Jenny's ankle first, then the dock.

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

🌿 Jenny04:19

I'm still here.

Close the notebook and lean back against the porch railing, trying to keep my leg still.

💭 peek at the thought

I can feel him coming. I hope the streaks haven't climbed any higher since he last looked.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:19

Let me see it.

crouch down and carefully unwrap the ankle brace to inspect the wound

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to make light of it. Ankle's swollen past the brace line. Fever's in her eyes.

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

🌿 Jenny04:21

It feels... tighter.

Hold my breath and look away toward the garden weeds.

💭 peek at the thought

Please don't let them be higher. If he sees them moving toward my knee, he's going to start talking about the medevac forms again.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:21

It's spreading. I'm out of antibiotics. We have to get the fever down — cold packs, elevation, fluids. And I need to run the Yanmar at load before the boat window closes.

press the back of my hand to her forehead to check temperature, then stand and head inside for the cold pack and water canteen

💭 peek at the thought

Red streaks tracking up past the ankle now. Skin hot to touch. This isn't waiting.

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

🌿 Jenny04:23

I can help with the fluids.

Try to shift my leg up onto the porch bench, wincing as the movement pulls at the skin.

💭 peek at the thought

Spreading. He said it. The word is out. He's already thinking about the engine while I'm rotting from the ankle up.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:23

Drink steady. I'll be back before the tide turns.

grab the cold pack from the cool box, fill the canteen from the tank, set both beside her on the porch, then walk down to the dock

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to be useful. Good. Keeps her mind off the pain. Need to move fast — cold packs, water, then the engine while the tide's still low enough to load the prop properly.

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

🌿 Jenny04:25

Jenny — reach for the canteen with shaking hands and take a slow, measured swallow.

💭 peek at the thought

"Drink steady." Like I'm a plant he's watering. He's so focused on that engine, on the mechanics of leaving, that he can't see I'm becoming a specimen.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:25

Kevin — start the Yanmar on the dinghy, let it warm at idle, then bring it up to 1800 RPM under load against the dock lines

💭 peek at the thought

Hands shaking. Fever's climbing. No antibiotics left. If the supply boat doesn't show in eight days — if she doesn't show — I run the dinghy myself. Engine vibration be damned.

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

🌿 Jenny04:27

Jenny — press the cold pack firmly against the heat of my ankle and pick up the notebook to stare at the sea beet sketches.

💭 peek at the thought

That vibration. I can feel it in the porch boards. He's pushing it, trying to force the machine to be perfect while I'm falling apart.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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