Page 75 of Inevitable Secrets

“Tell me about my mother,” Taylor blurted out. It came out in one long word, like she had been holding it in and it just flew out when her mouth opened.

Dr. Mellon took a seat in one of the chairs and motioned for Taylor to do the same. She shot a quick glance at Derrick who nodded to her and pulled a chair next to her, both of them sitting at the same time.

“Where would you like to start?” Dr. Mellon asked her in a soft tone that reminded Derrick of beach waves. Damn, this guy was good.

Taylor heaved out a breath, “Can you tell me what she was addicted to?”

“Cocaine and heroin,” Mellon said somberly.

Taylor nodded, “And her family, did she ever talk about her family?”

“Her mother and father were drug addicts as well,” Mellon answered. “They overdosed at different points when she was growing up and your mother went to live with an aunt, who was her only living relative. Elizabeth became an addict soon after high school when her aunt was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She admittedly didn’t know how to cope with the illness, and that was what brought her to that world. It was her aunt’s dying wish that she get clean, and she left her the money to go to Healing Winds.”

Taylor nodded.

“Do you want to ask me more about her?” Dr. Mellon asked Taylor gently.

Taylor shook her head. “I, um, I’m not sure how much more I can process,” she explained.

“I understand,” he acknowledged. “I wouldn’t know how much more to add. I only knew her for a brief time early in her life and what Cedric told me later.”

“Can we talk about him? Cedric, I mean?”

Mellon nodded. “You have found the journals. I will hold up my end of the bargain and we can discuss Cedric.”

Mellon explained how Cedric had been kind but very irritated that he had to be at the rehab center. He corroborated Nan’s story of Elizabeth and Cedric being just friends, but that Cedric spoke about her with such “intensity” in their private sessions he knew he had deeper feelings.

“I tried to persuade him to not enter into any kind of relationship until he was fully healed from his addiction,” Mellon said sadly, “but he was insistent that they were just friends. It was almost like he wanted to believe it, too.”

Mellon went on to tell Taylor that he saw in the news that Elizabeth had married Grant and he immediately thought of Cedric. It was years later, after he had seen more stories of Cedric’s issues in the tabloids, that Grant had reached out to him.

“He said he had still been journaling,” Dr. Mellon said with a small smile, “and I was glad at least some of my therapy plans had been successful.”

“Was he using then, when he saw you again?” Derrick asked.

Mellon nodded. “He was severely depressed. He said the drugs made him forget about it for a little while. When your mother announced her pregnancy, he went on a bender. I didn’t hear from him for months, and then he called one day out of the blue, and said he needed my help. He wanted to be clean again.”

“What changed then?” Taylor asked.

Dr. Mellon’s whole face lit up as a smile crossed his face. “He fell in love again,” he explained.

“He did?” Taylor asked befuddled. “With whom?”

Mellon barked out a laugh. “With you, Taylor, with you!” he said. “He wanted to be there for you, be a great uncle to you, watch you grow,” Mellon said. “And so he got clean,” he continued, sounding pretty shocked, “quickest I have ever seen anyone. I changed our visits to every other month, and then, well, and then there was another big change.”

“What do you mean?” Derrick asked. “Another change how?”

“We had our visit and he was acting, well, strange. Eyes darting, twitching, cringing,” Mellon said. “He would talk but it wasn’t to me. I asked if he heard voices and at first he said yes and then he said no. I thought maybe he was using again, made him do a drug test and it was clean. I asked to see him the next week and he agreed, but when he came back, he lashed out. He said the voices got worse when he saw me. Told me he was on to me, that I was just trying to get him,” Mellon shook his head. “That was the last time I saw Cedric, that day, years ago.”

“Do you think he had a psychotic break?” Taylor asked.

“It would appear to have some sort of mental component but, well…” Mellon paused, gathering his thoughts. “I have trained in countless facilities. I have treated mania, depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia of all different sorts. His behavior was nothing I have ever seen. I contacted other specialists, other heroes in the field of psychiatry. None of them could help me pinpoint a cause for Cedric’s behavior.”

“Come on, Dr. Mellon,” Taylor said, standing and grabbing for one of the journals. “Look at these. Do these look like something from someone mentally well?” she asked handing him the book. The journal held drawings that were not to the caliber of Cedric’s beginning works, but instead looked like rough drafts drawn with the wrong hand of a middle schooler.

Mellon took the book from Taylor, and shook his head. “I wish I could explain it, but I was never able to evaluate him again.”

“Did he ever act like he wanted to seek revenge?” Derrick asked hesitantly, trying to both change the subject as well as get the answers they needed.

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