It took Bella a day or two to recover from being immobile for so long, to eat and get her strength back, to calm a very stressed boyfriend who'd watched after her while she slept, to try and sleep around a new round of nightmares. Thankfully, as ever, his arms were there before the screams came so they never got as bad as they probably could have been.

When she found the note in her mailbox, it was the first time she'd felt back to her normal self, so she'd gone in search of her friend and it was only by accident (spotting her through a window as she passed) that Bella found her.

She didn't go closer than sight range before she called out. "Val?"