Chapter 125: Paranoia

“I’m at home,” Gaark answered. “You’ve grown a lot, little brother.”

This was the first time all day where Gaark didn’t seem clueless when he talked. His words were sharp, and his smile quickly faded away.

Then, he asked, “I haven’t been home in a while, have I?”

“No, it’s been five winters.” Jimmy said.

“Right, I remember saying that.” He sighed, and he started to get stressed out, and flickered through eye contact as he looked up and down. “How much of my brain did you wipe out? I know I’m forgetting something, but I can’t figure out what, for the life of me.”

“I only got rid of the stuff that would mess you up,” Jimmy assured him, “Stuff that would make you a danger to our people. Don’t worry about it, your head is in tip-top shape now.”

Gaark seemed paranoid, but this was normal. Thanks to the erased memories, the five last summers, to him, felt like they never happened. He only had a few neutral memories of the past five years, the kind that wouldn’t scar him mentally.

However, his heightened intelligence came hand to hand with paranoia, which was only natural, as this was almost always the case with intelligent people. The lack of memories certainly served to make him feel paranoid. He questioned everything around him every time his eyes flickered up and down, as he observed his surroundings.

At last, he sighed in defeat, and said, “I will trust your judgment, brother. If you truly believe that you got rid of bad brain parts, then I will believe it too. But I have to ask, are there negative sides to your healing? What should I be prepared for?”

Despite his cooperation, Gaark still seemed paranoid. His questions sounded intelligent, but he was only trying to soothe his paranoia. He was a big, young man, so he tried to keep himself from freaking out, because he didn’t want to hurt anyone.

Jimmy picked up on his brother’s paranoia, his distress. So he decided to answer his questions with visuals.

Using the tip of a spear, he drew a brain on the dirt ground below them. He drew it between himself and Gaark, and then he asked their father to come closer with a torch, so Gaark could have a better look.

“This is what a normal brain looks like,” He pointed with his forefinger.

Afterwards, he started drawing these cloudy lines across the brain, and wiped away some of its prior outlines. He tried to draw what an atrophied brain looked like.

“This was your brain before I started healing it,” He said. “You see those lines? Those are holes, large chunks of brain fat that were essentially missing. Or, destroyed over time.”

Afterwards, he made the wavy lines softer, and closer to the outlines of a normal brain. He was no artist, but he was giving it his best shot.

“I managed to help your brain grow some of its fat back, or, half of what was missing.” He explained, “Ideally, I need to fix your brain entirely, but I ran out of mana, so we will continue tomorrow. For now, if you feel that something is really wrong, see me immediately. At worst, you might mix up your words, randomly trip, or even get headaches, but all of that is normal, as your brain needs time to relearn simple things. Your brain is healthy, and has even started to heal by itself, so please, relax. You’re home, you’re safe, and healthy.”

Gaark sighed once more, but this time, in relief. He finally started feeling safe.

“Thank you, little brother.” He grabbed Jimmy by the shoulder, and the happiness in his eyes was evident. “I do feel sharp, perhaps to a fault? If you don’t mind, I’d rather not ride a dinosaur for now. I understand you learned to tame them, and that’s impressive, but my legs don’t feel like my own right now. I’ll hold down the fort here, and fight off anyone who dares threaten our people.”

“Take as much time as you need,” Jimmy smiled. “You’ve been through a lot. Take some time to relax. Figure out how to use your hands better. Work with clay, make some pots. I’m sure that sounds infinitely boring to you now, but it’s the only brain training I can think of that doesn’t involve sharp tools.”

Gaark agreed, and afterwards their mother hugged the both of them, and helped Gaark catch up with what had happened in the tribe ever since he was gone. She briefed him with the most important events, but she could also tell that he was tired, so the crowd split up afterwards, as it was nearly time for them to sleep anyway.

“I’ll keep guard tonight,” Zik said. “Find Cika, and tell her to get some of the young men I saved to come over here. We’re gonna need someone to guard the entrance at all times.”

“Alright,” Gnegor nodded. “I’ll get them, and then I’ll come and switch places with you later in the night. We shouldn’t let young boys alone, they can’t do much if we actually get attacked.”

The crowd went ahead to the common area, and found that almost everyone had fallen asleep already. Hannah was sickened by how careless her people were, so she wanted to turn back and guard the entrance too, but Lasra grabbed her by the arm, and urged her to go and get some rest. Hannah had walked for hours today, so despite her anger, she had to sleep in tonight.

Gaark and his parents slept in the same cave. They wanted to have an eye on him for now, as they understood that their son needed some time to adjust to all the changes. He could be a danger to himself throughout the following week, so they had to be on alert.

Jimmy wanted to go to sleep as well, but then Anna grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him towards their preferred private quarters. Otherwise known as the cave with the steel door in it.

Jimmy noticed that Nechi and Eni were following them. They’ve stuck around ever since he and Anna got back home, and judging from their giggles, Jimmy started to understand that he was going to get really lucky tonight!

’Jurassic Jesus, thank you again!’ He celebrated inwardly. ’Three at once? Haha! Hell yeah!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep