Jailhouse Lee Sings the Blues
A mysterious outbreak had occurred on a remote Hawaiian island. The N.I.H quickly dispatched one of its rapid response teams. And as luck would have it, they'd ended up with the private jet, their inarguably favorite way to travel.
But as on such long flights, boredom tends to ensue. And the team was involved in yet another of their never ending card game marathons. Another hand dealt and two players left to face off against each other over the sizable pile of chips.
Miles looked at his hand and groused, "It's a good thing we aren't playing with real money or you'd have all our paychecks by now."
Eva growled, "Put up or shut up, McCabe. She gave his ankle a swift kick for emphasis.
"Ow!" Miles exclaimed. His tossed his cards on the table. "Okay. I fold." He pushed the rest of his chips over to her. "You got it all. Happy?"
Eva shuffled the cards and asked, "Who wants to start another round?"
"Not me. You can play by yourselves," Miles declared, sitting back in his chair.
"Well, since Mr. Spoilsport doesn't want to play anymore, what can we do now?" Frank asked. He checked his watch. "If we're on schedule then I think we just passed over Kansas City."
"Does the word work enter anyone's vocabulary?" Stephan asked.
"I know what we could play, Eva said with a sly look at Miles. "Strip poker."
Miles picked up his discarded jacket and tossed it to her. "This is all I'm taking off for you." He went to get a can of soda and make himself comfortable in one of the reclining seats.
Stephan held up a hand and stated, "Eva, I don't care how many variations of poker you can come up with. But I absolutely draw the line at strip poker."
Natalie ignored the by play between her teammates while Frank wryly commented. "Geez, you two are worse than my girls." That comment earned himself a double glare from Eva who had put away the cards and Miles who wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
"I think this is going to be a long flight," Stephan said to nobody in particular, looking at the rest of the team.
"Hey, I know what we can do," Eva exclaimed, pulling a magazine out of her carryall and flipping through it. "We can find out everybody's Blues name."
"Blues name?" Natalie asked.
"Yeah. You know. Blues," Eva replied, quickly scanning the lists. "Your name is Jailhouse Lee." She pointed a finger in Miles' direction.
"Jailhouse? What kind of name is that?" Miles wanted to know.
"What's your middle name?" Eva asked him.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Miles replied, a 'dare me' look in his eyes.
"I think it begins with an S," Natalie supplied.
Eva was quickly checking the lists again. "Jailhouse 'Sad Boy' Lee. Now that's even better," she laughed.
"Hey, give me that," Miles demanded, getting ready to make a grab for the magazine. "What's your name?"
"Texas Jefferson. Hey, Nat, want to know your name?" Eva asked.
"I might as well since I think you're going to tell me anyway," Natalie replied.
"Peg Leg Dupree."
"Okay, what's mine?" Frank asked.
"Hollerin' Bradley and Conner's is Blind Hopkins," Eva replied.
"I think Peg Leg and Jailhouse made out the best," Frank commented.
"Okay, guys. We've still got a long ways to go and we've all had a busy day. So let's grab some sleep before we hit the ground running when we get there," Stephan suggested.
"Great idea," Natalie said, opening up an over head compartment and began passing out pillows and blankets. Soon everybody was settled down with the lights dimmed.
"Goodnight, Jailhouse," Eva said sweetly.
"Hey, don't call me that," Miles protested.
Stephan sat up and said, "Miles, Eva."
"Yeah, Conner?" Miles asked.
"Go to sleep. Now!" Stephan said firmly.
"Okay, okay. I'm going…" Miles' words were drowned out by Eva's pillow hitting him on the head.
Stephan rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "I definitely know this is going to be a long flight.".