the keeper's cottage · day 813 · midday

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🌿 Jenny15:39

Jenny — walk into the kitchen, sit on the stool, and unwrap the ankle brace to inspect the skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The air is so thick it feels like breathing through wet wool. I need to check that ankle before the swelling sets in.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:39

The brace is holding. You want me to change the dressing?

Remove the clean gauze from the pot on the stove and unwrap a fresh strip.

💭 peek at the thought

Her silence is louder than any storm. The infection's still creeping at the edges, and she's watching me like she's deciding whether to stay or leave.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny15:41

Yeah. Be careful with the edges.

Lean back, leg extended on the table, watching his hands work.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being too helpful. It makes me want to yell at how much the skin actually hurts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:41

Just like you taught me. The antibiotics should have drawn it out by now.

Carefully unroll the fresh gauze, soak it in the warm saline solution from the basin, and gently lift the brace to inspect the skin beneath.

💭 peek at the thought

Every time she says "be careful," she's asking for permission to stay. The infection's still spreading at the edges, and I can feel the weight of her silence pressing down on the table between us.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny15:43

It's the salt air. The humidity gets into everything here.

Wince slightly as he touches the area, my eyes fixed on the floor.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's still red, I'm going to have to use the radio for something real.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:43

It's not the salt air. It's me not catching it sooner.

Apply the sea beet and mint poultice with careful fingers, spreading it thin over the angry red edges, then wrap the fresh gauze snug but not tight.

💭 peek at the thought

She's making excuses for the island, for me, for the life we chose. The salt air doesn't make infections spread — bacteria does. And I've been too slow to see it.

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

🌿 Jenny15:45

It's fine, Kevin. It's just a scratch.

Rub the back of my neck, looking out the window at the half-weeded garden.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks it's his fault, but it's just the island eating me piece by piece.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:45

Scratches don't fester for three weeks.

Finish securing the gauze with tape, then set the used supplies aside for burning. Reach for the doxycycline blister pack on the shelf.

💭 peek at the thought

She's lying to both of us. A scratch doesn't need two antibiotics, daily debridement, and poultices changed at dawn. The garden can wait. The north ridge can wait. She can't.

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

🌿 Jenny15:47

I'll take the pills now.

Take the medicine with a swallow of lukewarm water from the mug.

💭 peek at the thought

If he's right, I'll be able to walk to the cove tomorrow.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:47

Five days after this one. Then we're done.

Count the remaining tablets in the blister pack, then set it back on the shelf beside the tin mug. Pick up the used gauze and poultice wrap to carry outside.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's taking them without argument. That's something. The supply boat's due tomorrow — if it comes — and I need to make sure we have enough to finish the course. The metronidazole's done. Five doxy left after today.

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.