Boss getting fired and I’m really worried

I work in a E&I and control engineering department for a large company. Though my title is control engineer, I do most of the planning, supervising, controls R&D management, day to day putting out fires and also come in a lot after hours to fix things as we run around the clock. The reason my job title hasn’t changed is if it says anything about management or supervision, then I get out on salary and my $85/h 4h minimum call outs go away. My boss, the E&I manager, has been really hooking me up by keeping me hourly and paying me a lot.

So here’s the big problem: my boss has had several family illnesses and now personal illnesses over the last 6 months and has really checked out at work. It doesn’t bother me to pick up the slack because it is a give and take situation. The problem is, now when he is at work he doesn’t know what’s going on in meetings with upper management and is generally being perceived by people outside of our group as not doing his job. The VP basically told my boss’s boss that he wanted him gone today. This is going to royally fuck my life up. Right now I have all the perks of being the ‘boss’ without the bs like reviews, HR, invoice processes, etc. All the stuff I hate. I like to have unlimited freedom to create a great work environment where every one is learning, working at their own pace, and get along really well.

If he gets fired and I have to take on his role formally it’s going to ruin everything. I’ll dislike my job and won’t have time to do the things I do like. Plus, I’ll go to salary and inevitably take a pay cut, plus have no incentive to work after hours which is going to be bad for the company. There is no one else in my group who can take on the management role. What do I do????