Page 51 of Cisco

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.

“Thanks. I appreciate the back-up,” Cisco nodded, then regarded Hilly. “As soon as she’s out of here, I’ll get on the horn and start calling around. Don’t worry, Hilly. Between me and my friends, we’ll get you covered.”

Hilly certainly hoped so. Without a medical person on site, she’d be in serious violation of the rules set forth by the State of Maine and the local Board of Health.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

After seeing the belligerent nurse off the property, Cisco managed to catch a little of the kids’ swim time in the lake. They splashed and played under the watchful eyes of the counselors who were all certified lifeguards, but whined about the early season coldness of the water, and complained that the slide they’d been promised hadn’t yet been set up. Cisco stepped in and assured them he’d get to it next time he was on premise on Thursday.

Mid-afternoon he munched on some wonderful cinnamon-stick-thingies that Mrs. S had made for snack time, enjoying them while settling in on his phone to make a few calls regarding medical personnel as he also kept an eye out for Hilly. Following the episode with the nurse that had clearly rattled her, he’d only seen her from afar as she worriedly ran around with her phone to her ear, ostensibly also looking for a replacement medical person to fill in on literally no notice.

As the campers left the beach to change and settle into craft time, Cisco approached Hilly as she paced back and forth outside her cabin, still clutching her device but looking more and more beat down with every pass she made. He assumed that meant she’d had no luck. But that was fine, because he’d solved her problem. At least temporarily.

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