PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A South Florida man received a surprising revelation Tuesday when doctors told him the extreme headache that had woken him up in the middle of the night was due to a bullet lodged in his head.

Michael Eugene Moylan, 45, awoke around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday in his home with an extremely painful headache, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said. Moylan told police the affliction was so painful, he thought that his wife had either elbowed him in the head or he was having an aneurism.

Mascara told West Palm Beach TV station WPBF that Moylan's wife, 39-year-old April Moylan, drove the couple from their home in the PGA Village gated community to Port St. Lucie Medical Center, where doctors told him that a bullet had become lodged just behind his right ear.

Investigators initially thought Moylan had been hit by a stray bullet, but they became suspicious after the couple offered conflicting stories, police said.

Mascara said April Moylan eventually told investigators that she had accidently shot her husband. She was arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon and could face attempted murder charges, Mascara said.

According to police reports, authorities obtained a search warrant for the couple's home, where they found bloody rags and a revolver.

According to booking records, Michael and April Moylan are convicted felons with criminal histories dating back to 1988 and 1987, respectively. Michael Moylan has been arrested more than two dozen times, mostly on charges of domestic battery, drunken driving and probation violations, WPBF reported. April Moylan has been arrested 13 times, having been previously convicted of the sale and delivery of cocaine in Palm Beach County, WPBF reported.

Police said Moylan did not undergo surgery Tuesday but was transferred to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach where he is listed in stable condition.

Mascara said the case is still under investigation.