the keeper's cottage · day 414 · evening

Night watch and 0400 dressing change

The kettle has gone cold on the stove. Kevin sits at the table with the notebook open to the Yanmar vibration log, pen poised. Jenny lies on the narrow bench, pant leg rolled up, the 0400 alarm about to sound. Outside, the overcast has thickened to a low ceiling, no wind, the tide turning to flood.

The rain intensifies, a heavy drumming against the cottage roof as the west wind howls. Inside, the air is humid and smells of damp wood and the scent of the kettle.

🔧 Kevin23:13

Kevin — reach over and silence the alarm before it sounds, then set the kettle on the stove to heat water for the dressing change

💭 peek at the thought

The alarm hasn't gone off yet. She's awake though — can see it in the breathing. Kettle's cold, means I forgot to light the stove after the Yanmar test. Tide's flooding, barometer holding. Four hours since the last dressing change. Need to check if the red line's moved.

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

🌿 Jenny23:13

Thanks.

Shift my weight slowly to get comfortable and watch the steam start to rise from the kettle.

💭 peek at the thought

The silence after the alarm is almost louder than the noise would have been. He's moving in that choreographed way again, anticipating my needs before I even have to ask. It's exhausting.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:15

0400. You want me to pull the dressing or you doing it?

set the pen down and pull the first aid kit closer, laying out fresh gauze, antiseptic cream, and the doxycycline blister pack on the table

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving slow. The ankle's stiffening in the cold. Kettle's singing quiet. Pen's still in my hand, vibration log open — RPMs steady at half throttle, no spike past 1800. Good. That's done. Now the leg.

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

🌿 Jenny23:15

I've got it. Just pass me the cream.

Reach out a hand for the antiseptic cream and begin slowly unwinding the gauze from my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I can do it. I don't want to be a patient today. I want to feel the edge of the wound myself so I know exactly where I stand.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:17

Kevin — squeeze a line of antiseptic cream onto a fresh gauze pad and hold it out to her, then pick up the pen and notebook again to log the time and condition

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady with it. Hands don't shake. The old gauze comes away clean — no pus, no stick. That's better than yesterday. She's watching the skin as she unwinds, not my face.

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

🌿 Jenny23:17

Thank you.

Take the gauze from his hand and carefully dab the red area, flinching slightly as the cold cream hits the skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The lines are steady for now, but the heat is still there. If they move another centimeter tomorrow, I'm calling the radio regardless of the cost.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:19

Kevin — lean sideways to catch the angle of the red line against the biro mark on her calf, then pour hot water into the tin mug for the doxycycline

💭 peek at the thought

The flinch was small. She's masking it. The red line — need to see where it sits against the pen mark from 0800 yesterday. She's blocking the view. Water's boiling now. Steam thick in the room.

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

🌿 Jenny23:19

It hasn't moved yet.

Press the gauze pad against the edge of the infection and wait for the antibiotic to kick in.

💭 peek at the thought

He's watching the line like it's a specimen under a microscope. I hate that I feel like a project right now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:21

Good. Take the doxy with the full mug.

slide the doxycycline blister pack across the table toward her, then lift my own mug and blow across the surface

💭 peek at the thought

Hasn't moved. The pen mark holds. That's two checks clean. Doxy's working — or the poultice is, or both. She's not saying it but her shoulders dropped a fraction. The mug steams. I'll take mine black.

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

🌿 Jenny23:21

I have it.

Pop the pill and swallow it with a large gulp of the warm water.

💭 peek at the thought

The water is too hot. I need to be strong enough to actually dig those holes once the seed tin dries.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:23

0800 next. I'll wake you.

stand and pull on my oilskin jacket, then step out onto the porch to watch the tide line climb the shingle

💭 peek at the thought

Pill down. Water gone. She sets the mug hard on the table — not angry, just tired. The gauze is taped. Dressing done. Next one at 0800. Barometer's still rising. Tide's pushing up the beach. Need to check the mooring ring shackle at high water under load. That's the next real test.

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

🌿 Jenny23:25

I'll be up.

Lean back against the wall and watch him through the open door, my eyes drifting to the seed tin on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

I don't need a wake-up call, but I'm too tired to fight him on it. The tide is coming in fast; I can smell the brine thickening in the air.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin23:25

Kevin — stand on the porch a moment longer, watching the tide turn the shingle, then turn back into the kitchen and sit at the table opposite her

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the seed tin. Not the garden, not the dinghy, not the radio. The tin. Grandmother's seeds. Tomato. Pepper. The damp packets we're drying. She's thinking past the next dressing change. Past the supply boat. Past me.

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

🌿 Jenny23:27

Something wrong with the tide?

Pull the pant leg down over the fresh dressing and shift my legs away from the table edge.

💭 peek at the thought

Why is he back? He should be checking the lines or the dock. The air in here is getting too small.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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