My Stepson Was Abused By His Mother During Her Sickness And Now Dss Is Involved. It’s Last Minute So I Can’t Get A Lawyer.

Location: South Carolina, united states , Upstate. (If city is needed I can provide, but would prefer not to). I have been dealing with someone who suffers from Bipolar with manic episodes for a while and sometimes their behavior becomes abusive. If this happens I always protect myself and my stepson by taking immediate action and going through the proper authorities whether that be police or mobile crisis. During a recent episode this scenario happened again and my son is now in the care of DSS and they are looking to place him. They have me in consideration as well as his grandfather who is a retired VA. I’m worried that they may not give me back my son and I might never see him again. I have no complaints about the grandfather in particular, but his immediate family, which granted do not live in his household, have abused or have allowed abuse towards my step son in the past. My wife’s opinion when she is in her right mind was to never allow them in my son’s life physically, especially because they wanted him aborted and physically abused him minus said grandfather. I had a removal protection meeting literally yesterday (Friday) at 3:30 pm right after I got off work in which they informed me that the legal custody hearing will be this Monday and the judge will start calling cases at 10:00 am. It’s impossible for me to get a lawyer over the weekend as far as I’m aware because they are all closed. I reached out to 211 and everything they referred me to is Monday-Thursday or Friday. I feel like I should have some legal right to representation and that this has taken place too fast to allow for me to be fairly represented. That being said, if I ask for a continuance, which I’m not even sure is allowed, my son would probably remain in foster care with strangers and that’s not the best for him, so I feel prolonging the legal matter is selfish. What should I do? How can I prepare or get a lawyer in two days? I’ve thought about trying to get any texts that may talk about his mothers wishes because currently she isn’t in the state of mind to make any statements or decisions and we are going to be separated for the safety of myself and my son anyways. Idk how the judge will view her opinions when she’s fully alert either. Is there a way for me to get a lawyer or what should I do if I go in solo? I do have two family members willing to take us into their homes also, who are much better off financially than me. The only reason I mention this is because they don’t view my home as safe because there’s no guarantee his mom won’t get out of the hospital even though her average stay there is multiple weeks long and the rental agreement is in her name.