the keeper's cottage · day 938 · night

Night watch and wound check

The tide turns and begins to ebb, sucking back from the dock with a wet rattle of stones. Kevin returns from the porch to the kitchen table where Jenny has propped her ankle on a stool. The shortwave crackles with static. The barometer reads 1013 hPa. They share a tin of corned beef and the last of the limpet broth, listening for the supply boat's scheduled check-in on 2182.

The tide is receding rapidly, exposing the sandbar that will soon block the supply boat access. Inside the cottage, the air is warm and still despite the steady trade wind outside. Jenny focuses on mapping the infection, her ankle throbbing despite the cool compress, while Kevin meticulously checks the radio connections to ensure their lifeline remains clear.

🌿 Jenny07:45

The tide's sucking back fast. That sandbar's going to be a problem soon.

wrap ankle in fresh gauze, prepare saline for potential second debridement

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer's still holding, but the static on the shortwave... Kevin's shoulders are tense. I can see it in how he holds the knife while we split the corned beef. The infection's definitely spreading - the red line's more pronounced than when I patched it this morning. I need to debride again before it gets worse, but I also need to check if the lime beds are holding pH steady now that the tide's receding.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin07:45

Sandbar'll clear by fourteen hundred. They'll call then if they're coming.

Check the shortwave's power lead and coax connection at the radio shelf, then pour the last of the limpet broth into two tin mugs.

💭 peek at the thought

The ebb's running harder than yesterday. Sandbar'll be exposed by mid-afternoon — supply boat won't cross it at low water. Need to key the mic at 1400 sharp on 2182. If they're out there, that's their window.

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

🌿 Jenny07:47

I hope they have more saline. This dose is getting too low.

sip the warm broth, watching the steam rise in the dim kitchen light.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so optimistic about the boat, but the island doesn'tФ about his schedule. way area feels like it's being squeezed in a vice; if those antibiotics don't kick in soon, I'm not reaching the north ridge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin07:47

Manifest listed medical supplies. Saline was on it.

Set the mug down on the table beside her, then pull the supply crate inventory list from the shelf and scan the medical column with a fingertip.

💭 peek at the thought

She's rationing the saline. Two bottles left after today's debridement. If the boat doesn't come tomorrow, we're down to boiled seawater and honey. She knows it. I know it. Neither of us says it.

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

🌿 Jenny07:49

I need to mark the infection boundary before it spreads further.

take the notebook from the table, flip to the wound diagram page, extend the red line marker with a pencil.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat's delayed twice now, and I'm running a fever, the infection spreading faster than I can document it. The south beach will be accessible by then, but my ankle...

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin07:49

The margin's clean where you debrided. Pus was old.

Sit opposite her at the table, mug warming both hands, and watch the pencil move across the page without interrupting.

💭 peek at the thought

The red line's crept two centimetres since yesterday. She's marking it calm as a surveyor plotting a trench. The doxy's holding but the metronidazole's nearly gone. Fourteen days of antibiotics left between us. The boat has to come tomorrow.

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

🌿 Jenny07:51

The border's extended three centimetres since yesterday. Metronidazole's running low.

mark the new measurement on the diagram, then reach for the antibiotic blister pack to count remaining doses.

💭 peek at the thought

His hands are steady, but I can see the worry in how he watches me work. The infection's tracking toward my groin - I can feel it in the lymph nodes. If the boat comes through, I need those antibiotics to hold.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin07:51

Twelve metronidazole. Fourteen doxy. Half-dose metronidazole from tomorrow if the boat doesn't show.

Reach across the table and tap the blister pack lightly with one finger — a confirmation, not a question.

💭 peek at the thought

Three centimetres in twenty-four hours. The doxy's slowing it but the anaerobes are winning ground. Twelve metronidazole left. Fourteen doxy. If the boat misses tomorrow's tide, we stretch to half-doses and pray. She's not asking me to choose. She's telling me the math.

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.