CHAPTER 180: CHAPTER 180 ANGEL WITH A GOLDEN HEART

"Hang on, please, please hang on..."

She turned back toward the car, her vision swimming.

The fire had reached the engine.

She could hear it crackling. Seconds... just seconds left.

"Uncle!" she screamed, crawling back toward the other side.

The passenger door was crushed. There was no time to pull it open. So she reached through the broken window, cutting her arm badly as she shoved both hands inside.

"Please... please wake up..."

And then—Emilio groaned.

His fingers moved.

Bella sobbed. "Yes! Yes, come on!"

She pulled at him desperately, using every ounce of her strength to lift his weight out of the broken seat. She didn’t even know how she did it—but she dragged him over glass, over torn metal, onto the grass just far enough.

And then—

BOOM!

The engine exploded behind her, sending flames leaping into the air.

Bella flung herself over Emilio instinctively, shielding him with her body as debris rained around them.

Everything went black for a second.

The driver from her car reached them moments later, wide-eyed and terrified.

"Oh my God... you... you saved them!"

Bella was shaking, her elbows bleeding, her hair messy and face pale with ash and sweat.

But she was alive.

They were alive.

She turned over and looked at Emilio. His eyes slowly opened, dazed and wet with smoke.

And the first thing he saw... was her.

Bella.

Covered in blood, trembling, breathing hard but still holding his hand.

She whispered, "You’re safe now, Uncle. I got you both out..."

Emilio stared at her, words caught in his throat. His mind replayed everything that had just happened— The way she threw herself into danger without a moment’s hesitation.

No fear.

No second thoughts.

Just raw, unshaken courage.

But what struck him more than her bravery... was her heart.

An angel with a golden heart willing to protect people she barely knew, simply because she could.

"Driver uncle, help!!" Bella cried out, her voice cracking from exhaustion and panic.

The driver, already rushing down the slope, finally reached her and gasped when he saw the state of the couple—bloodied, barely conscious, the car burning behind them.

Without wasting a second, he grabbed Emilio under the arms while Bella supported Reyna, her small frame trembling as she did her best to lift her.

"Slowly—here, hold her this way—watch the glass!" Bella said breathlessly, wincing as she stumbled, her knees already scraped and arms bleeding.

Together, they brought both of them up the hill—Bella limping, eyes wide and wet, whispering, "Just a little more... please hang in there..."

They laid Reyna and Emilio across the back seat as carefully as they could, trying not to jostle them. Bella climbed in right after, her dress gathering around her legs as she settled beside them. She held Reyna’s hand gently. With her other hand, she kept reaching over to Emilio—pressing her palm softly against his chest every now and then, just to make sure it was still rising and falling. Just to make sure he was still with them.

The driver slammed the door, jumped into the front seat, and sped toward the hospital.

Bella stayed quiet the whole way.

Her body hurt. Her hands throbbed. Her dress was ruined, blood-stained and torn. But she didn’t care. Her eyes never left them. She kept whispering things—soft, broken things.

"It’s okay... we’re going to the hospital now... you’re safe... I’m right here..."

The car screeched to a stop at the emergency entrance.

Doctors and nurses came running.

"Critical patients—multiple injuries! We need stretchers now!"

Bella jumped out as soon as the doors opened, waving frantically. "Over here—please help them!"

They were lifted gently onto stretchers—both unconscious by now.

"Take them to ICU," one doctor ordered as they wheeled Emilio and Reyna through the glass doors and disappeared into the hallway of blinking lights and sterile walls.

Bella stood frozen for a second, staring after them, chest rising and falling.

Then—

"Miss? Are you a relative?" a nurse asked gently, handing her a clipboard.

"I..." Bella swallowed and took it with shaky hands. "I’m... not family, but... I was there. I brought them. I’ll file the forms."

She sank into the chair at the reception desk, blood drying on her skin, her handwriting shaky but determined as she filled out Reyna and Emilio’s names, her own phone number, and everything she could remember.

When she handed the clipboard back, the nurse looked at her kindly. "You did good, sweetheart. You brought them just in time."

Bella nodded, her throat tight. "Please... please take care of them..."

Then she sat quietly in the waiting area, still trembling, hands folded tightly in her lap, not even realizing her shoes were gone... or that her body was shivering.

She just kept staring at the ICU doors, waiting for any sign.

"Hey, sweetheart... let me treat your wounds."

Bella blinked.

That voice—soft, warm, familiar.

She looked up quickly, her eyes wide and still slightly red from crying.

And there she was.

Nurse Marla, in her pale lavender scrubs and her hair tied neatly in a bun with a faded pink clip she always wore. Her face was aged and gentle, eyes kind like a grandmother’s, her smile soft with knowing.

"Ms. Marla...?"

Bella’s voice cracked.

Marla smiled more, her hand reaching out to tuck a dusty strand of hair behind Bella’s ear.

"It’s really you," Bella whispered, a little breathless. Her heart ached but in a gentler way now.

This was the hospital she’d always ended up in after those long, blurry nights from the past. And Marla was always the one to patch her up. With warm hands. With quiet jokes. With soft humming that always felt safer than silence.

Without another word, Marla gently took Bella’s arm and led her down the hallway to a small, empty wardroom.

"Sit," Marla said softly, already pulling out a small first-aid box from the nearby shelf.

Bella sat on the low cot, her legs dangling, her hands still stained from dried blood and dust. She watched as Marla knelt in front of her, inspecting her scraped knees and bruised palms.

"You haven’t changed at all, you know," Marla said with a chuckle, dabbing her cuts with warm antiseptic. "I heard from the staff—they said you brought in two critical patients... and that you didn’t even know them."

Bella lowered her head shyly. "I... I couldn’t just leave them."

Marla looked up with a teasing glint. "Still trying to save the world, sweetheart?"

Bella bit her lip and smiled faintly. "I like helping people..."