Spike is found by a doctor/nurse...?

I recall reading a story maybe 10+ years ago, where I think Spike was somehow washed up or deposited on a beach near a coastal community, maybe upstate from CA. Maybe it was after AtS, or maybe it was canon headed AU mid-series.

So, this woman, who is in this town because she lives there/she is settling family stuff/whatever, I think she has a cottage/house, finds Spike. I can't recall if Spike is human or vamp. I think Spike can't remember his past, or refuses to. The woman seems to help him for a long time, it goes Spuffy. The (temporary other) woman was a doctor or nurse, or in medical training.

Many thanks for the brain power...

That sounds like Fall of the Night by Mabel Marsters
Summary: Story starts post season seven BtVS and season five Angel. Everything that happened up tothat point is as the shows. Picks up three months after Not Fade Away. Since a few people have been upset by Spike being with someone else I'll tell you now, it doesn't last ok? But she is there for many chapters before Buffy arrives. So if you can't deal this isn't the fic for you!!

Hi Peyton, many thanks for helping me out again - unfortunately, this is not the story I'm looking for.

I've read 'Fall of the Night' through to Chapter 7, but it isn't right. I recall the story I'm searching for as being more complex, both in writing, language etc. It was a beautifully written story, quite sober in the beginning, and I'm sure that it went on for quite some months with just Spike and the person who found him. It was quite melancholy, I feel, and didn't shift that mood for some time.

I've wondered about this story for years, and always half looked for it. It's probably been turned into original fiction and wiped from the interwebs, but... I hope this jogs something in someone's mind...

I wish I could remember the title or author - I know the story you mean I read it as well several years ago - Wish someone could help us out. I sometimes am able to find those old stories by starting with the oldest pages and working backwards.

That sounds like heliotrope by Gwyneth Rhys. It can be found at Elysian fields.

Sorry I just posted a message to the wrong request.

I wondered about Heliotrope, but they meet in an alley while he's saving her life and she's a tax accountant, not a medical professional so I didn't rec it. I'll feel really stupid if it turns out to be the right one.

Not Heliotrope (which is lovely), but no. Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming!

Is it the one where Spike leaves after Buffy beats him? A woman (I think we learn later is a nurse) who's husband was killed picks up Spike, so she can commit suicide by vamp.

Instead, they end up helping each other learn to live with loss? Spike keeps in contact with Dawn and Buffy finally finds out. The nurse is eventually paired with Wes?

If any of that sounds familiar it's: Cast Me Not Away by Enigmaticblue and can be found at Elysian fields. Cheers!

I wish I could remember the title - I don't think it's the great Cast Me Not Away Series. If I am remembering right - Spike is taken in my the nurse and he spends quite a bit of time with her.

Thank you Shelby, but no, it isn't Cast Me Not Away.

Damn... I wonder why we can't find it? Must have been by one of the authors who began to publish, and removed their works from the interwebs. It's probably still out there...with all humans, amnesia, and characters not called Spike and Buffy, damnit. :/

If anyone is still looking - I think this story may be the one by Mabel Marsters - check out that list of stories -