The Physics of Faith

The guests applauded, and Caspian was beaming with joy. "Congratulations, Christopher, well done!" Gavin said and shook his hand. Ellen wiped her face, feeling overwhelmed with happiness. But as Christopher was about to give his speech, some armed men barged into the hall. "Everybody down!" one of them said and shot in the air. Everyone fell to the ground and trembled with fear. Gavin's bodyguards tried to protect them but got shot even before they attacked. Caspian's chest tightened; so many of the armed men had surrounded them all. "Please, take whatever you want, just don't hurt anyone, there are young children here!" Gavin pleaded. "SHUT UP!" another armed man said as he stepped on Gavin's face. Christopher had gone pale and was rooted to the spot. The men looked around, and one of them spotted Christopher. "Ah! There you are," he approached him and pulled him by the collar. "Let go of him! Let go of my father right now!" Caspian was on his feet; his body moved on its own accord. "Caspian! Get down!" Ellen yelled being afraid of what might happen next. "Just get the job done before the chick gets in the way", the first man said, and when Caspian realised what that meant, he was too late. 'BANG!'. At the sound of that, Caspian froze. The armed men had done what they needed to do, so they left. Christopher's body slumped to the floor, a crimson pool spreading from his chest. "Dad! Dad!" Kelly shrieked, her eyes widened with horror as she and her mom rushed to his side. Christopher was unconscious, and the people around him assumed that he was dead. Gavin quickly called an ambulance. Caspian's heart raced. "Dad!! Dad! Stay with us, please! Oh God! Please! Please!" he panicked. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived and attended to Christopher. "Kelly, Caspian! To the car now!" Ellen panicked as she searched for her phone. Gavin approached her, "I'm sorry, I can't come with you. I called the police, and I have to be here to attend to them," He said as he rubbed his head. "I'll come with you, Ellen", Derrick said as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She was the only one he could trust since he and Christopher were very close friends. As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they waited for the doctor to show up, and after a short while, he did. Ellen blurted out her questions in fear before the doctor could speak. "Please tell me he's okay. You did save him, didn't you?" She asked with clasped hands. Derrick approached her once more, trying to calm her down. "Well? Is my dad okay?" Caspian asked. Kelly's face dropped as the doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "This is hard to say...I'm sorry, he was brought in dead, it was too late, I couldn't save him, he was shot right in the heart-" Ellen lost it when she heard the doctor's words, that was not the information she wanted. "You're a doctor for a reason! Your role is to save lives! To save lives..." Ellen broke down in tears and watched as the doctor walked away while Derrick kept trying to pull her together. Kelly sat on the floor, praying and crying. She was too young to be fatherless, she was just thirteen years old. Caspian barged into the room where his father was placed. The nurses had already covered him up but were startled by Caspian's actions. He removed the cloth they had used to cover him, and he began to shake his father's shoulders "DAD! DAD! You better get up right now! You made a promise! You can't just die here!" Caspian didn't want to cry, but he burst into tears without even realising it. The nurses took hold of him and led him outside before he'd cause any damage. THREE DAYS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRISTOPHER -- THURSDAY The news was all over the city. 'It was said that Christopher Waxman was shot in the heart, and this was clearly stated by witnesses who were at the award ceremony, The police are still on the case as...' the news continued. "Turn that off!" Caspian groaned. Kelly turned off the TV and began to pace around the living room. "Mom isn't back yet..." she murmured. As Caspian scrolled through his phone, articles about Christopher's death were uploaded. There were lots of comments and reviews, such as 'He was the best scientist ever!', 'No one will ever be like him', with sad emojis. And then, one review caught Caspian's attention. It said, 'It's an assassination, someone did this, maybe out of envy. Dr Christopher was really both a scientist and a father. Caspian gasped. "I thought the same thing; they were hired to do it!! Damn it! I'm going to find them!". Kelly turned to him "Caspian, what's wrong?" She asked. He passed his phone to her, to let her have a look while he got his laptop. "Dad only worked with four scientists, right? We do know Derrick, but the others, not so well", he said. "You think so? Milo wrote this..." She trailed off and sat down. "Yeah, I know, I clicked the profile...he did like dad a lot, he did get a million likes for that review though, we have to try and avenge dad somehow", Caspian said as he typed away on his laptop. Kelly sighed "You're right, but vengeance belongs to only God, remember? And also, the police are on the case as well."