Chapter 4

Glad you all liked Chapter 3. I know it was a bit dramatic, but I needed to make it a little angsty to prepare for this chapter. Anyways, hope you like this one, and don't forget to R/R.

After dropping this bombshell, Aladdin quickly walked past Jasmine, grabbed his suitcase, and began packing.

"But what about Hazel?" Jasmine asked.

"I'll come over a few times a week to see her, and I might stay in one of the guest bedrooms if things get really bad.

In a guest bedroom? Jasmine was so mad, she was speechless. After all that they had been through and all they had fought for, he was leaving without so much as a goodbye. And even worse – it was her fault. She had hurt him, the only man she ever loved. She had shut him out – treated him like he wasn't even there, and didn't even realize it until it reached its breaking point. Was this the end of their marriage?

Aladdin soon finished packing his small suitcase, and before Jasmine could say another word, he walked out the door.

He decided to stay in the old, small hovel which he had once called home when he was a streetrat. For how long, he wasn't sure. While he did need some time away from Jasmine, Aladdin didn't want to detach himself from Hazel in the process. Aladdin's worst fear about becoming a father was that one day his child would look back and think that her father wasn't there for her, the way he felt Cassim hadn't been there for him. Even if things didn't work out with Jasmine, he vowed to remain close to his daughter.

Two weeks went by, however, and Aladdin still had not come to see Hazel. Jasmine knew that her presence in the palace was probably keeping him away. While she did want him tho come and see Hazel, she didn't want the hurt caused by their last fight to come back with him, and didn't want to start another one. But soon, Hazel's condition got even worse, and Jasmine knew she had to swallow her pride to save her baby – and her marriage.

She knew Aladdin was probably at his hovel – there was no where else he would go– and immediately went to see him. When she finally reached his old home, Jasmine saw Aladdin sitting with this back to her staring out at the view of Agrabah and the palace. He had probably seen her coming.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly, without even turning around to look at her.

Jasmine could her the anger and hurt in his voice. But she didn't what to fight with him – she just wanted him to come home.

"Look, I didn't come here to argue,"she began. "I came to tell you that you need to come and see Hazel."

At this, Aladdin turned to look at Jasmine. She looked tired, and like she had been crying. He decided to pretend like he didn't notice.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, getting worried.

"Does something have to be wrong for you to see your own daughter?" Jasmine replied.

"No, but it's obvious that something is wrong. Is Hazel getting sicker?"

Well, Jasmine's original plan pretty much backfired. Even when they were fighting, he still knew her like a book. Instead of letting him down easy, she'd have to say it flat out.

"Hazel's got some kind of virus. We don't know what it is, but she's lost weight, she hardly eats anything, and..."

"And what?"

"And... she may not survive the night."

Aladdin couldn't believe what he was hearing. For the past month, there had always been some risk that Hazel might die. But he never expected that risk to come up again out of nowhere. He hadn't been this scared since Hazel was born a month ago. He had to go to the palace to see her, even if he still didn't really want to talk to Jasmine. His emotions were way too confusing right now for him to sort out.

"So...what are her chances?" he asked.

"Fifty-fifty. It could go either way." Jasmine replied.

Aladdin sighed deeply. "Alright, let's go," he said after a short silence.

Their slow walk to the palace was completely silent. They didn't know if was their anger at each other, their worry about Hazel, or both that kept them so quiet, but before they knew it they were at the steps of the palace. They quickly hurried to the nursery where Hazel slept. She was in a small pink basinet in the middle of the room. Aladdin was shocked at how her appearance had changed in the two weeks since he had last seen her. Here face was a sickly pale white, and she looked like she had lost more weight.

A few minutes later, Genie came in. He had probably been helping to take care of Hazel while Aladdin was gone. He would know what was going on.

"Genie, is she..." Aladdin couldn't say the word dying; he just couldn't. But he was sure Genie knew what he meant.

"I'm not sure, Al," Genie replied. "My magic doesn't really help with this. But I've given her the best medicines in the Seven Deserts. For now, all we can do is wait...