Skin Walkers: Gauge by Susan A. Bliler

didn’t just stop at her ankle.  All the way up the length of her slender calf, over her thigh, and up to the round of her left hip her skin was severely bruised.  It wasn’t blue, it wasn’t purple.  Her delicate creamy skin was marred by the stark black declaration of trauma.  The hem of her camisole was hiked up enough to reveal that the bruise carried up her ribs before it disappeared under the white satin.  Ella’s shoulder too was black all the way down to her elbow and onto her swollen wrist that lay limply across her abdomen, previously hidden from view under the blanket that had covered her.
    At first Gauge didn’t speak .  After several moments, Ella shifted her gray eyes from the ceiling to his face.  His complexion was ashen and for the first time since she’d met him, Gauge Alexander was speechless.
    She watched his throat convulse as he swallowed hard. 
    Gauge knew now that Ella wasn’t refusing to get up, she simply couldn’t.  He drew in a deep breath trying to control the rage that slowly enveloped him as he ground out in a nearly unrecognizable growl.  “Who did this?”
    “I fell.”
    His eyes slashed to hers.  He couldn’t smell the lie over the scent of her pain as it engulfed the room, but he didn’t need to.  No fall could have done this. 
    “ Who in the fuck did this?” His growl was even deeper now.
    Ella swallowed as her throat thickened with emotion.  “I -I fell, Mr. Alexander.”
    She watched as he shoved an angry hand into his short blond hair and cursed under his breath. 
    “You’re going to the infirmary.”  He bent and slid his hands under her and tried to lift her.  He didn’t get far. 
    As he moved to stand and Ella’s body bent, she sucked in a sharp breath.  “Gauge, STOP!”
    It was the first time she’d ever called him by his first name, and the sound of it on her tongue sent an involuntary shudder through him even as his nostrils flared and he took in the scent of her escalated pain.  Hell, he didn’t think it was possible for her to hurt more than she already did, and had no idea how she kept from crying out.
    Gauge eased her back onto the bed and growled to ward the wall, “Get here now!”
    Ella knew he was communicating through the Walker mist. 
    Behind Gauge, Conn stepped forward.  “I’ve already contacted Jenny ; she’s on her way and bringing a team.”
    The room fell into a tense silence and it felt like hours passed before Conn turned and rushed out of the room, “They’re here!”
    Gauge didn’t stop his pacing when Jenny rushed into the bedroom.  Shock clouded her expression as she stared, immobile, down at Ella’s battered body. 
    “Jenny!” Gauge prodded impatiently.
    Jenny clamped her mouth closed and crossed to the bed before dropping to a knee next to the bed and placing her fingers gently on Ella’s throat.  With one hand on the steady rhythm she found there, her eyes dropped to her upraised wrist watch. Jenny didn’t even address Ella before she pulled her hand back and rolled up the hem of Ella’s camisole, her eyes flitting over Ella’s body in a quick scan before she placed a hand on Ella’s rib cage. 
    Ella sucked in a harsh breath and whimpered, “ Don’t! ”
    Jenny’s lips pursed in displeasure and she stood to eye Gauge.  “We need a gurney, she can’t be carried in this condition and she certainly isn’t walking.” 
    Jenny fell silent and her stare went through Gauge.  She was summoning what they needed.  Finally she blinked and pulled Gauge further from the bed as they waited for help, but Ella could still hear her words.  “I’m guessing she’s got broken ribs and God only knows what other internal damage we’re dealing with.”  Jenny’s eyes skipped to Ella’s ankle then back to Gauge.  “That ankle looks broken, and I’m pretty sure her wrist is too.”  Jenny shook her head, “What in the hell happened to her Gauge?  Who did this?”
    Gauge sneered in Ella’s