Disclaimer: I don't own Olympus Has Fallen
How appropriate that it is pouring out today, president Ben Asher thought to himself.
He slept fruitlessly and woke up several times during the night. He didn't even want to sleep. He looked over at Margaret who was softly sobbing in her sleep. Gently he ran a hand through her hair. He knew he had to wake her up. Neither of them wanted to do this.
Ben felt like this was all his fault. He and Margaret had quarreled over something that looking back today seems so insignificant. He had been proud and refused to let it go.
DAMNIT I SHOULD HAVE LET IT GO, he thought to himself, then this wouldn't be happening n ow.
Today was not an average day. President Asher would attend no meetings. He would give no speeches. He was going to no parties. He was not administering any harsh chastisements which he normally refused to do anyway.
If only he hadn't been arguing with Margaret the driver wouldn't have been distracted. If only he had been quicker. He could have grabbed Conner out. Tears poured down his eyes like the rain that was fast falling on the window. Numbly he took a shower as Margaret showered in the other room. Numbly he got dressed and went downstairs. His daughter, Caroline was home from college to attend the funeral and offer them support. It was going to be so hard for her too. She was very close to Conner and the idea of losing him was horrifying to her. Tragically it happened when Conner was so young.
...
It was raining at the funeral as well. President Asher listened to the preacher talk about how GOD has the perfect plan. GOD never gives you more then you can handle. Oh yeah? He would rather be whipped half a thousand times and have alcohol and salt poured in his wounds then this. He would pour the salt in himself if it would bring Conner back.
The preacher said that Conner was a beloved son- got that right. He was a beloved brother. He was a loyal friend. He was a good soul. Duh. But Conner was so much more. He remembered how Margaret went into labor with Conner not even knowing she was carrying him. He was in the middle of doing something and she went into labor. Conner was born at 12:24 in the morning after 12 hours of labor. He would never forget how Conner had a way of pulling at his heart strings. Caroline did the same thing. No matter how naughty they had been Margaret and him could never bring themselves to chastise them or even scold them. Still they were wonderful and well behaved children 90 percent of the time.
It was a good sermon but the preacher didn't capture the heart of Conner. That heart was no longer beating but it was affecting everyone who loved him. There was no mention of how Conner used to come into the oval office even in the middle of a meeting when he got home from school just to give his old man a hug. Asher sobbed throughout the funeral. This was his baby.
After the funeral everyone who was a friend of his came up to him. They asked him how he was doing?
"MY SON IS DEAD," he screamed, "HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?"
"I know what you're going through," his friend Mike said.
"Was he saved?"
That question came from his college friend.
"Yes," Ben said, "He was saved. That's why he's in a ******* casket?"
He was starting to get a headache. His son was dead. He just wanted to curl up and let that reality take affect then sleep until he died so he wouldn't be hurting anymore. Nothing would bring his boy back.
Days passed. It seemed like time stood still. Slowly he started to heal. He chose to honor Conner Benjamin Asher instead of mourn him.
"Conner may be dead," Benjamin said ending a speech, "But he isn't gone. He's in our hearts. He's in our souls. He's always with us."