the keeper's cottage · day 716 · evening

The Storm Breaks

Rain finally begins to lash against the roof as you sit together in the dim light, the storm lantern flicking against the rising draft.

Kevin tended the generator and re-dressed Jenny's infected ankle with a fresh sea beet poultice and the last clean gauze. Jenny took her metronidazole dose and drifted into exhausted sleep against Kevin's arm while the storm hammered the roof.

🔧 Kevin12:20

Generator's sound. Tank's full. You need water or another dose before the light fails?

check generator oil level and top up if needed, then secure the dinghy bow line with a fresh chafe guard from the spare rope

💭 peek at the thought

Storm's here. Barometer held steady too long — knew it would break. Jenny's fever's still riding high, ankle's hot to touch even through the poultice. Need to check the generator oil before the load spikes, and the dinghy's bow line took a chafe yesterday that'll scream in this wind.

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

🌿 Jenny12:21

Water... and the medicine, please.

Lean back against the cold stone wall and close eyes, trying to fight the nausea.

💭 peek at the thought

My own feels like it's being squeezed by pliers, and the heat is making my brain melt.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:23

Here. Slow swallows.

pour warm water from the kettle into a tin mug, shake out a metronidazole tablet from the blister pack, and hold both out to her

💭 peek at the thought

She's burning through the metronidazole fast. Five tablets left after tonight. Fever's driving the nausea — need to get fluid and meds down before she crashes again.

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

🌿 Jenny12:29

Thank you, Kevin.

Take the mug with shaking hands and swallow the pill, wincing as the water hits my dry throat.

💭 peek at the thought

If I can't get this fever down, the seeds will just rot in that tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:29

Keep the mug. I'll change the dressing.

pull the used sea beet-mint poultice off her ankle, clean the wound with the last of the saline, spread a fresh poultice from the basin, and rewrap with the last clean gauze strip

💭 peek at the thought

Good. Pill's down. Water's staying. Her hands are shaking hard — fever rigors setting in. Need to swap the poultice before it sours, and get another blanket on her.

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

🌿 Jenny12:39

Sorry... it hurts.

Let my leg go as he works, breathing through shallowches while the rain hammers the roof.

💭 peek at the thought

The cool water on the skin is the only thing that feels real through the fever right now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:39

Nothing to be sorry for. Hold still.

finish wrapping the gauze, tuck the end secure, and pull the blanket up over her shoulders

💭 peek at the thought

She's apologising for pain she didn't choose. The wound looks cleaner than yesterday — granulation tissue pink, no new pus. The sea beet's doing its work. Just the fever riding her hard.

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

🌿 Jenny12:43

Stay? Just a bit?

Reach out a hand to catch his sleeve, eyes heavy and unfocused.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm so tired of fighting, I just want the world to stop spinning.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:43

Not going anywhere.

pull the stool closer, sit down, and rest a hand on the blanket near her shoulder

💭 peek at the thought

She's drifting. The metronidazole and fever will pull her under soon. The generator's steady, the cottage is battened, the dinghy's doubled up. Nothing urgent outside these walls. She needs someone here when the rigors hit.

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

🌿 Jenny12:45

The rain... it's getting harder. The rain... it's getting harder.

Shift closer to the warmth of his presence, letting the blanket sink into my skin. </think>THOUGHT: If I drift off, will he still be here when I wake? Shift closer to the warmth of his presence, letting the blanket sink into my skin.

💭 peek at the thought

If I drift off, will he still be here when I wake?

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin12:45

Mm. Roof's holding.

shift on the stool to take weight off my knees, keep one hand on the blanket near her shoulder, and watch the lantern flame dance

💭 peek at the thought

Rain's hammering the roof proper now. Wind's shifted — hitting the west gable. She's fading. Good. Sleep's the only thing'll break the fever. I'll watch the lantern, listen for the generator note to change, and be here when she wakes.

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

🌿 Jenny13:09

Don't... leave.

Nuzzle my head against his arm, eyes drifting shut as the storm growls.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is moving under my skin, but I'm so cold.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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