the keeper's cottage · day 347 · midday

Midday Heat

Kevin and Jenny are together in the shaded cottage as the humidity thickens. The barometer continues its slow rise, but the wind remains dead still.

Kevin runs the Yanmar engine at full load on the dinghy to verify the vibration fix holds true. Jenny attempts to tend to the garden seedlings, but the heat and the throbbing in her ankle make the work difficult and frustrating.

🔧 Kevin05:21

How's the leg feeling? Honest answer.

walk to the bedroom and kneel beside Jenny to check the ankle dressing

💭 peek at the thought

The air's gone thick and close. Radio's been quiet since the mayday acknowledgment. Jenny's calf still shows that red line tracking upward — antibiotics bought time but didn't stop it. Coast guard said medevac depends on weather window and vessel availability. Could be hours. Could be days. I should check the dressing again, see if the heat's making it weep more.

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

🌿 Jenny05:21

It's throbbing, Kevin. The redness is moving higher today.

Jenny flinches slightly as he touches the bed, pulling her leg back just an inch.

💭 peek at the thought

It feels like a hot iron is pressed against my skin, and every pulse is a hammer blow.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:23

Let me look. I'll be careful.

gently roll up her trouser leg to examine the calf and track the red line's progress

💭 peek at the thought

She pulled back. That's new — she's been letting me touch it. The heat's making the swelling worse, or the infection's pushing past the antibiotics. Need to see it proper, not guess.

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

🌿 Jenny05:23

Just... tell me exactly where the line is. Don't sugarcoat it.

Jenny holds her breath, staring intently at her own skin, her hand gripping the bedsheet.

💭 peek at the thought

I can see it too. It's a jagged, angry map. If it hits the knee, I'm in real trouble.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:25

Two inches past where it was this morning. Past mid-calf, tracking toward the knee. Skin's tight, hot. It's moving faster in this heat.

pull her trouser leg back down and sit on the edge of the bed, wiping my hands on my thighs

💭 peek at the thought

The red line's crept another two inches since this morning — past mid-calf now, angling toward the knee. Skin's tight and shiny over it, hot to touch. Lymphangitic spread. The antibiotics aren't holding the front. She needs IV drugs and a surgeon, not gauze and hope.

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

🌿 Jenny05:25

Two inches. Right.

Jenny looks away, staring at a smudge of dirt on the whitewashed wall, and goes very quiet.

💭 peek at the thought

Faster. Of course it's faster. The humidity is just feeding it.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:27

I'll raise the coast guard again. Get a timeline, not a maybe. And the trust — see if the boat's actually moving.

walk to the radio shelf and key the mic on 2182 kHz

💭 peek at the thought

She's calculating. Same way I calculate when an engine's vibration shifts frequency — how long before something lets go. She knows what lymphangitis means out here. Knows the coast guard's "depends on weather and vessel" is code for maybe tomorrow, maybe never. I should radio again. Push for a firm ETA. But the radio's been dead quiet since the acknowledgment. Could try the trust's frequency, see if the supply boat's left mainland yet.

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

🌿 Jenny05:27

Jenny — jenny closes her eyes and leans her head back against the wall, listening to the static of the radio.

💭 peek at the thought

He's panicking in his own quiet way. I can hear it in the way he's moving. I just want to be able to stand up.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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