“Oh yeah?” Hilly retorted. “Watch me.”
She extricated her hand from Cisco’s and took a few steps toward the nurse’s quarters, not waiting to see if Debbie would follow, but when she heard a sharp screech, she paused, turned, and looked behind her.
It was clear that Debbie, spitting angrily, had tried to go after Hilly, but Cisco had restrained her, his hands on her upper shoulders while she kicked and cursed.
Nel chose that moment to show up from wherever she’d been hiding, and growled low in her throat at the perceived threat.
“It’s okay, Hilly. Go. I’ve got her,” Cisco ordered curtly.
“Oooh,” The nurse began screaming and fulminating loudly. “You’ll regret this you fucking cunt.”
Hilly didn’t respond, instead hoping they were far enough away from the dining hall that none of the campers had heard.
“I’ll sue,” Debbie continued to bellow at the top of her lungs.
Buffy chose that moment to appear from out of nowhere, clearly having been drawn by the commotion. She instantly had her arms crossed over her chest, situating herself between the woman and Hilly, in a show of strength. “Like hell you will. It looks like you might have missed the part in your paperwork where Hilly has the right to inspect all quarters on the property, and confiscate anything deemed inappropriate.”
Debbie looked like she was about to blow a gasket. Her face was bright red, and her pupils dilated. Was she under the influence of something more than alcohol? Hilly would soon find out. “Thanks Buffy, Cisco. If you can just keep her here, I won’t be a minute.” Hilly turned once again, taking another step toward the cabin in question.
“You’ll be sorry, bitch. I’ll make your life a nightmare. When I get through with you, nobody will want to come to this shit-hole camp,” Debbie continued ranting.
Nel growled again, this time showing teeth, and Hilly didn’t think she’d ever seen her dog so riled.
She gave her canine a comforting look, and a calm command. “It’s okay, Nel. You stay.”
Nel sat.
“Good girl,” Hilly praised before getting her feet moving in the right direction again.
Hilly tried not to get shaken by the words that were continuingly hurled as she proceeded. She’d received worse threats; most recently from her estranged father who’d had the delusional, yet self-righteous audacity to force a confrontation in town, where he informed her that the camp should legally be his, since it was his mother who’d owned it. Hilly had managed to remain serene, not answering him, instead walking away from him silently with her head held high, but now…
Nope. If Hilly could survive her sperm donor’s pompous vitriol, she could weather this.
Marching up the two steps into Debbie’s quarters, Hilly opened the door. As soon as the tip of one toe was inside, she gaped. The place was a disaster. In two short days, the woman who called herself a professional had made the kind of mess inside the once-neat cabin that would have a marauding bear cringing.
Hilly gingerly stepped all the way in, and continued to look around, aghast.
There were open containers of both food and alcohol strewn everywhere; from the table, to the counter, to the floor, and even onto and under the bed. Clothes had been flung willy-nilly, and if Hilly wasn’t mistaken, the stale air, underneath the pervasive smell of old food and alcohol, stank of cigarettes and weed.
There was no way Hilly wanted this woman back here while she sobered up. Who knew what kind of damage she would do to the building now that she was so angry. Not that the horrific mess was much better, but at least it only meant elbow grease, not money to make it better.
Sucking in a breath, Hilly crossed the room, dodging crap to open the adjoining door which led into the camper-accessible infirmary. Hilly gave her first sigh of relief. Not only was the place still pristine, it looked like Nurse Gorner hadn’t yet stepped foot inside the room.
Unbelievable.
Hilly closed the door firmly as she made up her mind. Between she, Buffy, and Cisco, they’d pack the woman up tonight, and call an Uber to take her to wherever the hell she needed to go. Hilly would then have Debbie’s car towed to whatever impound lot was closest to where the woman lived, and at her leisure, tomorrow or whenever, Hilly’s ex-employee could bail the thing out.
Hilly threw open one window after another to air the place out, then opened the door and stomped down the steps, back to where a now quiet Debbie stood, silently fuming.
The woman shot daggers at Hilly with her eyes as she approached, but Hilly ignored her.
“Will you two help me get her stuff together?” she addressed Buffy and Cisco. “Then we’ll call for a ride to take her into town,” Hilly clipped disgustedly. “Once you see the condition of her quarters, you’ll understand why she can’t stay here another minute.”
“Oh, like your nasty cabin is sooo special,” Debbie started up again. “That place is a piece of shit.”
Hilly was done listening to the nurse. She looked at her watch, speaking directly to the two sane adults. “We have thirty-five minutes before the kids exit the hall for their afternoon swim. I want her out of here by the time they’re on the move.”
Cisco didn’t waste a moment. He guided their haughty, wailing drunk toward her quarters, followed by Hilly, Buffy, and a vigilant Nel. When he got inside, he stopped dead in the doorway. “What the hell?” he snarled, grimacing in disgust. He turned his head to Hilly. “How long has she been here, exactly?”
“She arrived Sunday night,” Hilly informed him, also showing her revulsion as she entered the room. “She managed this in less than two days.”
“You have no right—” Debbie began again, but this time Buffy cut her off.
“You, lady, are a total wack job,” Buffy spat, clearly having heard enough.
Hilly, despite the situation, felt her lips twitch upward.
“Wack” was the closest her therapist-friend ever got to calling someone crazy, and even then, she used the term infrequently. Which meant she clearly agreed with Hilly that the situation and the woman were out of hand.
“Yup,” Hilly agreed. “Let’s get her gone.”
It didn’t take the entire thirty-five minutes to pack her up. It didn’t even take ten. Between the three of them—with Debbie finally having run out of steam, moping in a chair—they bundled up her personal belongings in a blink, while Cisco called for a car.
He gave Hilly a thumbs up. “Twenty minutes. You go back to the dining hall and make sure none of the kids heard anything traumatizing,” he suggested. “I’ll stay with Ms. Gorner in the parking lot until her ride gets here.”
“I’ll keep you company,” Buffy told Cisco shrewdly. “I wouldn’t put it past this bitch to make up some kind of sexual allegations against you if you’re left alone with her too long.”
Hilly blessed the day she’d brought Buffy on board. She never would have thought of that possibility.
