"We look at the X-ray and realize, 'Oh, my God, that thing's still in there,'" Tom Biehl said. "The doctor was a little shook up and got me an appointment right away with an oral surgeon."

The second X-ray on Tuesday morning confirmed what they already suspected: A lead pellet was lodged in his jaw.

"The oral surgeon said that leaving it there was the best option," Diane Biehl said. "He said it would cause more damage to the bone to get in there and dig around."

The patient said he could accept the diagnosis, given the surgical alternative. But it is harder to accept that a stranger apparently took aim at a car full of people and pulled the trigger of a pellet gun.

"I've thought about what could have happened, how much worse it could have been," he said. "What if it hit my eye? What if it was a real gun? It makes me angry."

His wife feels the same way.

"I think it was kind of a freaky thing," she said. "Somebody could try the same thing 20 more times and not hit him, because both cars were moving. On the other hand, any time you shoot into a car with people in it, there's a good chance you'll hurt someone.