A/N: This could be from any female's POV, canon or original.

Fruitlessly

You should be thrilled. Anyone would want him, after all. You're the envy of most of the female population.

But see, when you're with him, and you see some woman glancing at the two of you, suddenly you imagine that your face could be replaced with hers, and he wouldn't really notice. It's not that he's absent-minded or anything, he just legitimately doesn't rank you high enough among his interests.

You've thought about the problem a lot, because that's just what you do, and much as you'd love to say it's his issue, not yours, you know that somehow it's at least forty percent your fault. Because frankly, you're just not good enough.

So doctors all play God to catastrophic lengths, it's a part of the territory. Even psychologists. But Jack, he plays God and wins. Again and again. And his methods become more and more outrageous every time. If you weren't sleeping with him, you would almost root for him to fail at some point, because it has to happen, he can't just keep beating all the odds, every single time.

You also know that he's too good to be true. He has one of the most fantastic bodies you've ever been allowed to run your hands over. He can make men, women and children alike trust him and love him, no matter how ridiculous his terms. He plays the guitar, he can do impossible things with a deck of cards, he can probably even read minds.

And he cares. You see that. Every single patient is his utmost concern, trumping any need he might have for sleep, for friends, for leisure. Doctors all say they put the patient first, but he's the only one she's ever seen who really, really does. He cares so much. So much that he doesn't have anything left for people like you. You're an afterthought in his busy schedule of making things right. Even his sister comes first, and that is a bit more insulting than it should be.

Maybe if you were like him, if you were also capable of taking a microcosm of the world at large and making it yours, you would merit more than a heart-stopping smile and the occasional chance to touch him. Maybe he would look at you and see something other than a way to pass the time, or another attempt at a relationship.

But he has no equal. For now, you can take comfort in the fact that there are no obvious replacements about to usurp your position. As long as you have it, you'll settle for what you can get from Jack Gallagher.

It's not like you can hope for more.