the keeper's cottage · day 614 · afternoon

Afternoon Resting

Kevin and Jenny meet at the cottage as the sun begins to dip. The air is cooling, and the tide is starting to turn back in.

Kevin flushed Jenny's infected ankle wound with warm saline and applied copper sulfate spray, revealing the infection runs deeper than surface level. Jenny endured the painful treatment while the tomato seedlings she staked earlier faced their first real wind test.

🌿 Jenny15:47

The tomatoes are staked. They'll hold, I think.

Lean heavily on the porch railing, lifting the swollen ankle onto a crate, and wince as the movement pulls against the bandage.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with the waves; I need to sit before I fall off the world entirely.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:47

Good. Wind'll test them tonight.

Walk over, set the wrench down on the porch rail, and crouch to check the ankle bandage without asking.

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring it worse than this morning. The swelling's tracking up.

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

🌿 Jenny15:49

It's fine. The poultice is still working.

Shift weight slightly away from his hands, looking out at the horizon where the sky meets the sea.

💭 peek at the thought

Don't touch it too hard, the skin is as thin as old parchment paper right now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:49

Let me look.

Stay crouched, fingers hooking the edge of the gauze to peel it back gently.

💭 peek at the thought

She's deflecting. The heat coming off that bandage says otherwise.

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

🌿 Jenny15:52

Just... be careful with it. Kevin, wait. There's still pus.

Wincing as Kevin peels back the gauze, the pain shooting up my leg, and gripping the porch rail tighter. </think>THOUGHT: The wound is more open than I remembered, edges inflamed and weeping.

💭 peek at the thought

The skin is splitting like old wallpaper, and there's that familiar heat beneath - she needs to stop pushing through this.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin15:52

It's deeper than the surface. Need to flush it again.

Stand, wipe hands on a rag, and head inside for the saline, basin, and copper sulfate spray.

💭 peek at the thought

Edges are raw, weeping more than yesterday. The antibiotics aren't catching it all.

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

🌿 Jenny15:55

Use the warm water. It stings.

Lean back against the stone wall, watching the shadows stretch across the garden weeds.

💭 peek at the thought

If he doesn't clear the infection now, I won't be able to walk to the radio next week.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:55

Warm water. Got it.

Fill the basin from the kettle on the stove, mix in salt from the tin, carry it out with the saline bottle and copper sulfate spray. Set up on the porch step beside her foot.

💭 peek at the thought

She's bracing for it. Good — means she'll hold still.

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

🌿 Jenny16:03

The tomatoes are done. At least those stayed.

Watch his hands as he prepares the water, trying to keep my breathing steady.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is coming off the skin in waves; I feel the fever spiking again.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:03

Three didn't. The wind took them night before last.

Pour the warm saline slow over the wound, letting it run into the basin, watching the pink water swirl.

💭 peek at the thought

She's counting what held. Tomatoes. The garden wall. Me.

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

🌿 Jenny16:09

I'll plant the Acacia tomorrow. Maybe.

Close my eyes as the water hits the infection, my fingers curling into the wood of the chair.

💭 peek at the thought

The salt stings the raw meat, but it needs to be clean.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:09

Soil's still cold. Wait until the rain breaks.

Pick up the copper sulfate spray, shake it once, mist the wound edges — quick, clinical — then reach for clean gauze.

💭 peek at the thought

Acacia fixes nitrogen. She's thinking ahead past the pain.

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.