the keeper's cottage · day 808 · evening

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

Kevin debrided the infection on Jenny's ankle at the cottage table while she struggled. He applied a fresh sea beet-mint-honey poultice and wrapped it in clean gauze after administering a dose of antibiotics.

🌿 Jenny10:57

I'm just going to sit here for a minute.

sits on the kitchen chair, leaning my head against the cool wall, and rubs my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing and the smell of damp stone is making me sick. I need to sit before I fall over.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:57

Kettle's on. Want a mug?

Move to the wood stove, lift the kettle lid to check water level, then set it back to heat.

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the ankle harder today. The swelling hasn't gone down despite the antibiotics and poultices. I should check the dressing again before bed, maybe re-soak it in warm salt water if she'll let me.

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

🌿 Jenny10:59

way, please. Black.

reaches for the tin mug on the table and watches the steam start to rise from the stove.

💭 peek at the thought

Coffee would be nice, if I could stop looking at the rain for a second.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:59

Ankle's looking worse. I'm going to give it a proper look.

Remove Jenny's hand from her ankle, set the mug on the stove, head to the medicine cabinet, retrieve gauze and scalpel, return to her and gently lift her foot.

💭 peek at the thought

She's holding still, but I can tell the infection's creeping up the tendon line. The poultice should help, but I need to get the wound cleaned again before it sets in.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny11:01

It's already throbbing worse since the rain started. Just... be careful.

watches him part the infected skin with the scalpel, wincing at the sound.

💭 peek at the thought

Why does this hurt more when he touches it? I can see the clay and salt crusting over the infection.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin11:01

It's tracking. I need to go deeper. Hold onto the table edge.

Debride the wound further with the scalpel, irrigate with saline, apply fresh sea beet poultice, wrap tightly with clean gauze, administer doxycycline tablet with water.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection's tracking up the tendon sheath. I can see the red line extending two centimetres past yesterday's mark. This needs deeper debridement and the last of the doxycycline. If it reaches the lymph nodes by morning, we're in real trouble.

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

🌿 Jenny11:03

(Sharp intake of breath) Just get it over with.

grips the edge of the wooden table, enough white, and breathes through clenched teeth as he works.

💭 peek at the thought

The pain is a white line across my vision. I can't see the garden for this anymore.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:03

Done. Clean margins. Take the doxycycline with the coffee.

Set the used scalpel and bloody gauze aside for sterilizing and burning, press the mug into her hand, sit opposite her at the table and watch her drink.

💭 peek at the thought

She didn't make a sound beyond that first breath. The wound's clean now, pink at the edges, no necrotic tissue left. The red line hasn't advanced past the new margin. Antibiotics are in her. Now we wait and see if the fever breaks.

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

🌿 Jenny11:05

(Voice thin) Thanks.

takes a slow sip of the bitter coffee, staring at the steam instead of his eyes.

💭 peek at the thought

My hand is shaking so hard the ceramic is rattling. The salt is in the wound now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:05

Sleep in the bedroom tonight. I'll take the porch. Cooler air, easier to hear the radio if Mendez calls.

Rise from the table, collect the empty mug, bank the stove for the night, lay a blanket on the porch bench, and sit with the shortwave radio.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not looking at me. The fever's still in her — I can see it in the flush on her cheekbones, the way her pupils are a touch too wide in the lamplight. She's scared, and she won't say it. Neither will I.

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

🌿 Jenny11:07

Don't stay up too late.

stands slowly, favoring the ankle as it throbs, and walks toward the bedroom without looking back.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the radio will save us. It's just static and the sound of the wind.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin11:07

Kevin — turn the shortwave to 2182 kHz, adjust the squelch, settle onto the porch bench with the blanket, and listen to the static while watching the north ridge silhouette against the cloud cover.

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to carry it alone. Always has. The ankle, the ridge, the silence about Tom — she folds it all into the work. I should've gone after her, made her let me tape the ankle properly, but she'd have refused. Pride, or fear, or both. The radio's quiet on 2182. Barometer's holding at 1008. If the ridge goes tonight, the cottage takes the slide with it.

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.