Before long, Damien returned with his arms full of white, clean cotton flowers. They were still warm, soft, and fluffy from being in the sun.

Irina removed the cotton seeds from a few cotton flowers. Then, with her back to Damien, she removed her stained underwear and placed some cotton on damp underwear she’d washed the night before with bathwater before putting it on.

“We should probably put these cotton flowers under the sun. We don’t know whether these are clean,” Irina said worriedly. What if there were insects in them?

She was about to get up from the nest when Damien held her in place and said to her...